October 2019

YOUR LINK TO AFRICAN AMERICAN BUSINESS OWNERS A MULTIPLE AWARD WINNING PUBLICATION

$2.50 OCTOBER 2019

The Future of Food page 48

… s e u n i t n o C he Struggle

T

The Intersection of Race & Blood page 74

'The Fundery' Investment Funding for Women-Owned Enterprises page 35 ‘Africa’s Own Netflix’ page 101

Homage to Fannie Lou Hamer page 52

Montgomery Elects 1st Black Mayor page 12

Publisher's Message “FOUR GIANTS GONE - MORE GIANTS TO COME”

I

n this issue of the Black Business News we profile and pay homage to three giants who recently passed. The Black Business News Group and the Black Business Association (BBA) focus on current and future generalions of Black business Pubisher/Editor-In-Chief owners and we are often so excited about the future that we loose sight of what It took to get to this exciting time of opportunity.

The pioneers who passed in October did make the difference, did break new ground, did open new plateaus for all to follow. Take some time to reflect on these and the many other giants who have made the present and the future not perfect but possible. Then determine to be a giant yourself.

Earl “Skip” Cooper, II

Giant Honorable Elijah Cummings has Passed

T

he Honorable Elijah Cummings, who had served in the House of Representatives since 1996, was Chair of the powerful House Oversight and Reform Committee. He also served as Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus from 2003 to 2004.

"A fearless champion of justice who fought tirelessly for civil rights and equality for everyone, i n c l u d i n g his beloved Baltimore," the NAACP, which is headquartered in Baltimore, said in a statement.

"Our democracy is stronger because of him."

Baltimore Mayor Bernard C. Young lamented the loss of "a powerful voice and one of the strongest and most gifted crusaders for social justice. He was, simply put, a man of God who never forgot his duty to fight for the rights and dignity of the marginalized and often forgotten."

Other giants lost to us recently are publisher/activist William Lee, actor and singer Diahann Carroll and opera star Jessye Norman. Our memorial articles

begin on page 82.

Reminder of Veterans Conference

O

ne of the Black Business Association's annual events will take place on November 7th.

The Veterans Procurement & Business Conference gives our community an opportunity to ensure the we fulfill our obligations to those who have given service to the nation.

Make certain that veteran-owned businesses have an equal opportunity to bid on the contract you have outstanding or that veterans have a reasonable chance to apply for and maybe win the job that you need to fill by working with the BBA. The Black Business Association stands ready to assist our corporate and business owning friends in getting this information out to the public.

If you need to know more about reaching out to the verterans community, please attend the conference on November 7th at Bob Hope Patriotic Hall. Detailed infrormation is available by calling the BBA office at 1-323-291-9334 or visiting the website at www.bbala. org. See you there.

Holiday Shopping,, Eating Out & Marketing

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We hope the article will help you make the most of this period in the Black Market which includes -

2  October 2019  Black Business News  www.bbala.org  1-323-291-7819

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Thanksgiving, Christmas, Kwanzaa, New Year and Black History Month.

Look for the BBN Shopping Gallery publications to show up in your emailbox very soon. If you have a product or service that should be included in the Shopping Gallery for 2019 send us the information ASAP at mail@bbala.org with BBN Shopping Gallery in the Subject line. Preview the products and services in the Shopping Gallery that starts on page 110.

Black Business News Group

Start-UP? Think Tech

www.blackbusinessnews.net

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

PUBLISHER/EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

W

hether your product or service is 100% tech or not you will perform your service or deliver your product better if you explore and find the technology that will help you be more productive, more responsive, more accessible, more exciting. and more successful.

For our Tech firms check out the StrattyX article on page 48 that profiles their search for early stage investors.

If it will fit in your financial and time budgets attend the Afro-Tech 19 conference in Oakland outlined on page 49. And read the wide-ranging tech focused article

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

highlighting opportunities in Agriculture on page 50.

By the way, Afro-Tech is a program of Blavity, Inc., a black-owned company (https://blavityinc.com). Blavity also is home to the epublication Travel Noir (https:// travelnoire.com).

Ian Foxx Sabir Narishima Osei

CONTENT ADMINISTRATOR La Sandra Stratton

LAYOUT/TYPESETTING

Now is the Time to Be "Purposefully" Black

Lion Communications

L

et us move toward the end of this year and the end of this decade by being more purposful. Grow the business profit margin on purpose. Buy your holiday gifts from Black-owned providers on purpose. Donate to organizations that are helping Black families on purpose. Donate to and work for Black candidates for elective office on purpose. Take part in the 2020 Census on purpose. Use the BBN Shopping Guide (page 110) all year long, on purpose. Let's move those Tubmans throughout our communities as many times as possible on purpose. "Because we all do better when we all do better." 

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. 

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Cover image: blogspot.com

About

ABOUT THE BLACK BUSINESS NEWS GROUPâ&#x20AC;Ś 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 aďŹ&#x20AC;ecting small businesses across the United States of America (USA), providing guides to greater access to financial capital, management eďŹ&#x192;ciencies, business education, mentorship opportunities and social media networks. The goals of the Black Business News Group include: â&#x20AC;˘

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

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oďŹ&#x20AC;ering business growth enhancing information on education, exhibitioning, international trading, technology, industry trends, and more.

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

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or providing an aďŹ&#x192;rmative influence for nemerging entrepreneurs by sharing inal novative design and creative cultural content that exposes them to the his-tory of black enterprises and urgess them to participate in the USAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s fu-ture.

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

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

ď &#x2018;Black Business News Travel Africa

Contents

Black Business News…October 2019 2

Publisher's Message

Government 6 8 10 12

14

15

Judge Affirms Harvard's Use of Race in Undergraduate Admissions Appeals Court Upholds Net Neutrality Rules but Provides Path for States to Push Back Vladimir Putin is Resetting Russia’s Africa Agenda to Counter the US and China Montgomery, Site of Historic Bus Boycott, Elects First Black Mayor in its 200-year History Black Mayors Respond to President Trump’s Comments in Lead Up to Presidential Forum on Criminall Justice Rep. Waters to Zuckerberg: You Have Opened Up a 12 Discussion About Whether Facebook Should Be Broken Up

50 52 56 57

Farming & Materials Science (Part 1) How to Show Up Ready to Perform at Your Best Each Day LinkedIn Launches Enhanced Targeting Tools: Just The Facts 3 Factors That Will Determine the Success of Your Side Hustle Bitcoin and Black America, the Book

Community/Public Interest 72 73 74 76 78

Oprah Winfrey is Looking for African Women who are Passionate about Public Service Georgia's pre-K teacher of the year is the first black man to win the award The Intersection of Race and Blood The Authoritarian’s Worst Fear? A Book Lupita Nyong'o and Her Mother Awarded for Their Big Roles in Creating Cancer Awareness

Obituary/Memorials 82 84 88

Diahann Carroll, Pioneering Actress, Oscar Nominee and Singer has Died at 84 Appreciation: Why Jessye Norman was More than a Great Voice. Much More Observer Founder Dr. William H. Lee Has Passed Elijah Cummings, the Longtime Congressman from Maryland, is Dead at 68

Entertainment

90

20

International

BBN Show Biz Buzz

Editorials/Perspectives 62 66

Homage to Fannie Lou Hamer: Womanist, Warrior and Way-Opener To His Wealthy Donors, Trump is Their Grifter

Business 26 35 36 38 43 46 48

Inside Tyler Perry Studios' Grand Opening Gala With Oprah, Beyoncé and More Stars Inc. Launches 'The Fundery' to Help Women Find Investment Funding Real ID: What Meeting Planners and Travelers Should Know Holiday Marketing Prep: 8 Tips for Email & Social Media Here’s What the First Black Woman to Run a Billion Dollar Business Travels With StrattyX Lets You Buy and Sell Shares Using Automated Rules The Future of Food: 3D Printing, Vertical

97 98 101

African Stock Exchanges Equity, KCB buyouts: The Making of $15B Banking Giants How Jason Njoku Beat the Odds to Create iROKOtv, ‘Africa’s Own Netflix’

Columns 58 110 168 176 178

Take A Look!

Shopping Gallery Books to Consider...

Resource Vault BBA 2019 Master Planner

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

43

Government - Civil Rights

Judge Affirms Harvard's Use of Race in Undergraduate Admissions

By Sherrilyn A. Ifill, LDF

O

n Tuesday, October 1st, a US District Judge in a thorough, 1 3 0 - p a g e opinion found that Harvard permissibly used race as a factor in its admission practices in SFFA v. Harvard. This has been a long, hard fight and we could not be more pleased with this decision; it is a win for affirmative action.

This decision is a victory for Harvard, but importantly for diversity in higher education. This decision is also a victory for our clients, a multi-racial coalition of Asian American, Black, Native American and Latinx students and alumni groups who intervened in the case. Standing united in support of affirmative action, they advanced the shared goals of equal access and opportunity that undergirds the very concept of race-conscious admissions. Today we salute our clients, whose powerful voices have been so important to a full understanding of this issue and this case.

This victory comes in the context of the LDF's storied history of using the courts to ensure equal access to education. From Sweatt v. Painter, to Brown v. Board of Education, to Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin (Fisher II) — we are proud of this history and we will continue to fight to protect the hard-fought gains we have made over the last 70 years.

In opening arguments at trial, LDF attorney Jennifer A. Holmes said, "The diversity on Harvard's campus

is a foundational part of the student experience, and the organizations we represent are the engines that bring that diversity to life: creating supportive networks, fostering outreach and exchange, and holding Harvard accountable on issues that affect communities of color.

The law recognizes Harvard's right to foster that kind of campus." Today, Judge Allison Burroughs of the US District Court of Massachusetts agreed.

To view our full statement and read the

6  October 2019  Black Business News  www.bbala.org  1-323-291-7819

declarations, arguments, and briefs submitted

by LDF on behalf of the 25 Harvard student and alumni organizations visit: www.naacpldf.org/

organization that relies on individual contributions to continue its civil rights work. 

press-release/federal-court-upholds-harvards-raceconscious-admissions-policies/?track=DE20K10&utm_ source=1910harvardupdate&utm_medium=email&utm_ campaign=fy20supporterupdate.

Sherrilyn A. Ifill, President and Director-Counsel

To support us in this vital work, please consider making a donation today. LDF is a 501(c)3 nonprofit

Image credits: America's Charities

www.naacpldf.org/

7  October 2019  Black Business News  www.bbala.org  1-323-291-7819

Government - Net Neutrality

Appeals Court Upholds Net Neutrality Rules but Provides Path for States to Push Back

By Brian Fung, CNN Business

A

federal appeals court has largely upheld the Federal Communications Commission's controversial repeal of its net neutrality rules for internet providers (https://money.cnn.com/2018/06/11/ technology/net-neutrality-repeal-explained/index.html) , finding the agency didn't overreach when it decided in 2018 to deregulate companies such as Comcast (CCZ) and Verizon (VZ).

The decision marks a victory for the Republican-led commission in light of opposition by consumer groups, tech companies and local government officials who had sued the agency in a years-long battle over the future of the open internet (https://money.cnn.com/2017/07/12/ technology/business/net-neutrality-protest/index.html).

But there is an important caveat: The court struck down a key aspect of the agency's order that could lead to further battles at the state level.

Tuesday's opinion by the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit is a win for the broadband industry, which had argued the regulations created uncertainty for internet providers and were too restrictive. But the decision also handed a partial victory to net neutrality advocates in that it provides a path for states to create their own net neutrality rules.

Both sides were quick to declare victory.

In a statement Tuesday, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said the decision is a win "for consumers, broadband deployment, and the free and open Internet." He added: "A free and open Internet is what we have today and what we'll continue to have moving forward."

Democratic FCC commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel, a net neutrality advocate, cheered the court's decision as it "vacates the FCC's unlawful effort to block states and localities from protecting an open internet for their citizens."

For years, consumer groups have pushed for tough net neutrality rules. Advocates say providers should not be allowed to slow down websites, block access to apps or give faster service to preferred partners, which

could distort the market for online services. Under those principles, Verizon, for example, would not be allowed to speed up loading times for, say, Yahoo, which it owns. Similarly, Spectrum could not downgrade Netflix as a way to deter cord-cutting.

In light of the decision, Mozilla, maker of the Firefox browser and one of the lead plaintiffs in the case, said the fight to preserve the principle of net U.theroot.com neutrality "is far from over."

Consumer groups succeeded in 2015 when the FCC decided to regulate internet providers much like legacy telephone companies. The agency imposed clear rules banning the blocking, throttling or accelerating of Web content by internet providers and reserved the right to investigate business practices that risked violating the spirit of net neutrality.

Opponents charged that the rules were a gross overreach by the government. Industry groups argued the constant danger of FCC investigations created business uncertainty and the rules opened the door to direct federal regulation of broadband prices.

House votes to restore net neutrality rules When President Trump took the White House, Republicans gained control of the FCC. Among the first acts Pai took as the new chairman was a plan to unwind the rules. Pai argued that the net neutrality regulations were heavy-handed and discouraged internet providers from upgrading their networks. In 2017, the FCC voted to repeal major parts of the rules, including the bans on blocking and slowing of websites.

8  October 2019  Black Business News  www.bbala.org  1-323-291-7819

Internet providers say they are not interested in blocking or slowing down websites anyway.

USTelecom, an association representing broadband providers, said the litigation showed how "Congress must end this regulatory rinse and repeat cycle by passing a strong national framework that applies to all companies."

But internet providers have lobbied for the freedom to strike deals with websites to provide premium service, possibly in exchange for extra fees.

Some policymakers have argued that practice, known as "paid prioritization," could benefit advanced applications like self-driving cars and telemedicine.

Critics worry it could become an unbearable cost for some websites and tech companies — giving wealthy, established firms the power to dominate while marginalizing smaller businesses that can't afford to pay.

Those arguments figured prominently in the legal battle over net neutrality. A coalition of critics led by Mozilla sued the FCC in hopes of blocking Pai's

deregulation.

The case was decided with the panel's three judges concluding the FCC acted lawfully when it decided to undo the Obama-era rules and regulate internet providers more lightly.

But the opinion also struck down efforts by the FCC to prevent state governments from enacting their own net neutrality laws and regulations. The court on Tuesday rejected that approach, saying it amounted to an attempt to "categorically abolish all fifty States' ... authority to regulate intrastate communications." The FCC could still seek to preempt states on a case-bycase basis, setting the stage for multiple legal tussles.

Andrew Schwartzman, senior counselor for the Benton Institute for Broadband and Society, said the decision "provides a roadmap to rules that can protect the promise of a vibrant internet that serves people, not the big cable and telcom companies."  www.cnn.com/2019/10/01/tech/net-neutrality-court-ruling/?utm_ medium=techboard.wed.20191002&utm_source=email&utm_ content=&utm_campaign=campaign

9  October 2019  Black Business News  www.bbala.org  1-323-291-7819

Government - Political Campaigning in the White House

Vladimir Putin is Resetting Russia’s Africa Agenda to Counter the US and China

By Nolan D. McCaskill

T

he firste v e r RussiaAfrica summit will be held from Oct. 2324 in Sochi, R u s s i a , marking the President c u l m i n a t i n g Vladamir Putin point of the speaks to President Cyril return of Ramaphosa © Russia to Copyright (c) Daily Africa, with Maverick , All more than 50 Rights Reserved African leaders and 3,000 delegates invited. This convening is only another illustration of the recent increase in economic, security, and political-diplomatic engagements to foster RussiaAfrica relations.

Over the last decade there has been a proliferation of Russia-Africa bilateral committees, economic forums, and conferences for economic coordination. In 2011, the Russian Agency on Insurance of Export Credit Investments (EXIAR) was created in order to facilitate Russian companies’ activities and the protection of investments.

More recently, the three-day June 2018 Saint Petersburg Economic Forum reunited Russia and Africa and gave African countries the chance to meet with Russia’s foreign minister Sergey Lavrov.

The Russia-SADC business forum that was held in February in Moscow is another example of the strengthening of ties between Russia and Africa in a broad range of economic fields.

The upcoming Russia-Africa Economic Forum, which will be chaired by Russian president Vladimir Putin and Egyptian president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, will gather Russian and African officials along with business leaders to discuss and sign trade, economic, and investment agreements.

Economic pragmatism

This renewed relationship is going to be centered around pragmatic economic cooperation, militarytechnical partnerships, and Russia’s quiet soft-power push. These are all set out in the competitive context with the United States, the European Union, and China, among others, as the backdrop.

Trade between Russia and sub-Saharan Africa started at low levels but increased rapidly to $4.8 billion last year from $1.8 billion in 2010. Russia-Africa trading relations are characterized by Russia’s main role as an exporter. In 2018, Russia’s exports to sub-Saharan Africa totaled $3 billion, while imports from sub-Saharan Africa came in at $1.7 billion. In 2015, Algeria together with Egypt, Morocco, Guinea, C te d’Ivoire and South Africa accounted for 80% of Africa’s exports to Russia. Cote d’Ivoire saw a strong increase in mutual trade with Russia in 2018, particularly with agricultural products and energy. During last year’s BRICS meeting in Johannesburg, president Putin emphasized Russia’s trade with Africa grew by more than 25% in 2017, and that trade saw particular growth in the food supplies, metals, and machinery and equipment sectors.

Energy has become the main sector for Russian investments and the concept of energy diplomacy has emerged with investments made in gas, oil, and nuclear power. Namely, Russian geologists are active in countries including Ghana, Madagascar, and Libya

10  October 2019  Black Business News  www.bbala.org  1-323-291-7819

and large oil companies such as Rosneft and Lukoil are fighting to dominate the market of oil investments through the creation of oil and gas fields in countries including Egypt and Mozambique.

Talks are also underway to establish a nuclear technology center and Russia announced its will to build an African Center of Excellence and nuclear power in Ethiopia.`

Military-technical relations Russia is the second largest supplier of arms in the world and a major supplier of arms to African countries.

The number of arms supplied by Russia keeps increasing and the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) found that Russia’s sales of weaponry to African countries in 2017 had doubled compared to 2012. China and the US are also crucial weapons suppliers but in Africa they fall behind Russia, which supplied 39% of Africa’s imported arms between 2017 and 2013.

SIPRI’s data on major weapons transfers show that the main arms transferred by Russia in 2016-2017 were principally second-hand equipment such as combat and transport helicopters, aircrafts, and surface to air missile systems.

In addition to weapons, Russia contributes troops to Africa. Private mercenary effort is a very common form of involvement by Russia in African countries, as demonstrated by large-scale mercenary efforts in the Central African Republic (CAR), but military contractors have also been active in other African countries.

UN peacekeeping efforts are another example of Russia’s involvement in Africa through the sending of troops. China and Russia together have sent more contributing troops in UN missions than the rest of the UN Security Council Permanent members.

Moscow is particularly known for its very specific model of arms first, business concessions later in many African countries and for its use of military assistance to get access to strategic economic sectors.

In fact, military assistance gives Russia access to the energy and mining sectors of African countries, as demonstrated by the case of Mozambique or Angola.

For example, Russia donated its own weapons to the CAR in 2018 in order to surpass France’s offer and achieve a monopoly on strategic access in the country.

Foreign minister Lavrov is planning on establishing logistic centers in Eritrea in order to similar strategic access to resources.

Recently, Russia has been using military assistance to gain influence in local politics. Documents were leaked in June which show Russia had been assisting Sudanese military efforts to defeat former president

Omar al-Bashir along with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Moscow has been deploying military instructors to train presidential guards and assisted autocrats with election strategies in various countries such as Madagascar and the CAR. The aim of these techniques is to build strong relations with rulers or candidates for election so that when they come to power, they partner with Russia, ensuring Russia’s influence inside African countries.

Soft power diplomacy Russia offers a non-Western-centric option for diplomacy and support. In 2015, Russia created an alternative credit rating agency to counterbalance the influence that Western agencies had in deciding on the access to finance of the developing world. Russia uses techniques such as visa-free access to South Africans in order to differentiate itself from Western practices.

And in a return to the peak of its Soviet influence days in the 1960s, education is becoming a key influence vehicle for Russia in African countries with everything from research support and scholarships to language schools and academic partnerships.

For example, last November, the Russian Namibian Cultural and Education Centre (RusNam) was launched in Windhoek to promote higher education.

That same month, an agreement was signed between Zambia’s Copperbelt University and the People’s Friendship University of Russia (RUDN University), to set up a regional center offering Russian language courses to students in Botswana, Namibia, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, and Angola.

Similarly, Russia builds language centers of education called “Ryusskiy cabinets” in African countries and uses them to promote Russian culture and language.

Scholarships are being facilitated by Russia to African students. According to foreign minister Lavrov, in 2017 over 1,800 Africans studied at Russian universities and benefitted from governmental scholarships and a total of 15,000 young Africans are studying in Russia. These students mainly come from Nigeria, Angola, Morocco, Namibia and Tunisia.

Ultimately, Putin’s plan for Africa is to reestablish Russia’s sphere of influence and regain the leverage and presence Russia once had on the continent as a non-colonial power. To do so, Russia uses a blend of hard power and soft power in order to provide a complementary yet competitive strategy for the creation of a new power bloc that would resist global forces’ influence in Africa—in particular, China and the United States.  https://qz.com/africa/1732316/putin-resets-russias-africaagenda-to-counter-china-us

11  October 2019  Black Business News  www.bbala.org  1-323-291-7819

Government - First

Steven Reed won about 67 percent of the vote. © Steven Reed for Montgomery

Montgomery, Site of Historic Bus Boycott, Elects First Black Mayor in its 200-year History

By Allan Smith

M

ontgomery, Alabama, site of the historic Montgomery Bus Boycott, is set to get its first black mayor in the city's 200-year history, with Probate Judge Steven Reed winning roughly two-thirds of the total vote in the Tuesday October 8th election.

Reed, a judge for Montgomery County, defeated David Woods by winning about 67% of the vote. Reed will replace current Mayor Todd Strange, who did not seek reelection.

"If there was any doubt about what we can do when we come together, when we unify this city, let the record show tonight ... we (can) build around positivity, around opportunity, and all the things that tie us together," Reed

said Tuesday night, NBC-affiliate WSFA reported.

Reed will be sworn into office next month.

Montgomery, first incorporated in 1819, served as the first capital of the Confederate States of America, and about a century and a half later was the site of the bus boycott, a seminal moment in the civil rights movement.

Montgomery had been one of three cities with a population greater than 100,000 in the six Deep South states that had not previously elected a black mayor, the Montgomery Advertiser reported. www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/montgomery-site-of-historicbus-boycott-elects-first-black-mayor-in-its-200-year-history/arAAIvosS?ocid=spartandhp

12  October 2019  Black Business News  www.bbala.org  1-323-291-7819

Government - International Trade

A

ccess Africa (https://ustda.gov/access-africa) is a partnership between the U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) and U.S. industry leaders to support the development of quality Information and Communication Technology infrastructure across Sub-Saharan Africa. Working with public and private sectors across the continent, Access Africa brings together critical stakeholders and designs targeted programming to advance inclusive, secure, and sustainable connectivity.

By partnering with USTDA through Access Africa, U.S. industry will have enhanced exposure to key stakeholders in the information and communication technology (ICT) sector in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).

USTDA will work to align its programming to support the technical, regulatory, institutional, and procurement priorities of Access Africa partners, which will also benefit public and private sector entities in the region.

Partners will have the opportunity to directly contribute to USTDA’s Access Africa programming: • Access Africa partners will be invited to host or meet with relevant reverse trade mission delegations to showcase their technologies and equipment, participate in business briefings, or participate in an Access Africa partners roundtable with the delegation • Partners will be invited to advise on the content and attend relevant USTDA workshops and conferences in SSA. Partners will have the opportunity to support workshops and conferences by engaging with USTDA to provide training or other relevant programming • Partners are encouraged to submit project proposals to USTDA for funding consideration Click

here

(https://ustda.gov/sites/default/files/ Access%20Africa%20Brief%20Final.pdf) to learn more

about USTDA's Access Africa initiative. To learn more about becoming an Access Africa partner, email AccessAfrica@ustda.gov.

Here is our list of Access Africa partners:

13  October 2019  Black Business News  www.bbala.org  1-323-291-7819

Government - AAMA Rebuke

Black Mayors Respond to President Trump’s Comments in Lead Up to Presidential Forum on Criminal Justice AAMA called on the President to retract his comments on "lynching."

M

ayor Hardie D a v i s (Augusta, GA), President of the African American Mayors Association (https://ourmayors. org), released the

following statement in response to President Donald Trump’s recent remarks, calling the congressional impeachment ch hmentt process a “lynching” “lynchi “l hing”” just justt days before the 20/20 Bipartisan Justice Center Second Step Presidential Justice Forum: “We look forward to being part of the bipartisan criminal justice forum at Benedict College in South Carolina this weekend. This important event will bring together a diverse group of leaders who care deeply about criminal justice reform. Together we will bring this important conversation to the national stage and seek bipartisan consensus on reforms that will support people and communities around the country. The First Step Act was indeed a 'first step' toward much needed criminal justice reform and we welcome its attention to sentencing and better integrating returning citizens into our communities. We know there is a long way to go and we welcome those who join us in their commitment to this issue. It is in this spirit that we welcomed the participation of President Trump at the forum along with other presidential candidates. We are offended by the

president's presid ident't't's comments id commentts on "lynching" "lynchi "l hing"" and and d the the distortion disttortition of the historic horrors of racial violence in this country.

We urge the President to retract his comments.”

About AAMA The African American Mayors Association (AAMA (https://ourmayors.org)) is the only organization exclusively representing over 500 African-American mayors across the United States. AAMA seeks to empower local leaders for the benefit of their citizens.

The role of the AAMA includes taking positions on public policies that impact the vitality and sustainability of cities; providing mayors with leadership and management tools; and creating a forum for member mayors to share best practices related to municipal management.  Contact: Donald Gatlin, dgatlin@rabengroup.com, 202-587-2871 Image credits: ourmayors.org

14  October 2019  Black Business News  www.bbala.org  1-323-291-7819

Government - Approval for Mail Drones

Rep. Waters to Zuckerberg: You Have Opened Up a Discussion About Whether Facebook Should Be Broken Up

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ongresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Chairwoman of the House Financial Services Committee, gave the following opening statement at a full Committee hearing with Mark Zuckerberg, Chairman and CEO of Facebook, entitled, “An Examination of Facebook and Its Impact on the Financial Services and Housing Sectors.” (https://financialservices.house.gov/calendar/eventsingle. aspx?EventID=404487)

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oday we are here to examine the impact of Facebook on the financial services and housing sectors.

Our sole witness is Facebook’s Chairman and CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

Facebook’s plans to create a digital currency, Libra, and a digital wallet, Calibra, raise many concerns relating to privacy, trading risks, discrimination, opportunities for diverse-owned financial firms, national security, monetary policy, and the stability of the global financial system. I and other Democrats have called for a moratorium on Facebook’s development of its digital currency, Libra, and digital wallet, Calibra until Congress can examine the issues associated with a big tech company developing these digital products, and take action.

As I have examined Facebook’s various problems, I have come to the conclusion that it would be beneficial for all if Facebook concentrates on addressing its many existing deficiencies and failures before proceeding any further on the Libra project.

Let’s review your record: • On diversity and inclusion, Facebook has utterly failed. Facebook’s executive ranks and workforce continue to be mostly white and male. Since Reverend Jesse Jackson and the Rainbow PUSH Coalition called upon Silicon Valley companies including Facebook to release diversity statistics more than five years ago, the representation of African Americans and Hispanics has increased by less than 2%. Facebook also told us that they have zero dollars managed by diverse firms.

• On fair housing, Facebook has been sued by the National Fair Housing Alliance for enabling advertisers to engage in discrimination on its advertising platforms. The U.S. Department of

Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has also filed an official charge of discrimination against Facebook for its advertising practices, including the company’s own ad delivery algorithms, which were found to have a discriminatory impact even when advertisers did not target their audience in discriminatory ways. I understand that Facebook has refused to cooperate with HUD’s fair housing investigation by refusing to provide relevant data.

• On competition and fairness, Facebook is the subject of an antitrust investigation by the Attorneys General of 47 states and the District of Columbia.

• On protecting consumers, Facebook was fined $5 billion by the Federal Trade Commission for deceiving consumers and failing to keep their data private.

• On elections, Facebook enabled the Russian government to interfere with our election in 2016 with ads designed to pit Americans against each other, suppress the vote and boost Trump. For example, Facebook allowed a counterfeit Black Lives Matter webpage to operate with the goal of discouraging African Americans from voting. Three years later these activities are still continuing on Facebook. We learned just this week that Russia and Iran are using the same tactics to meddle in our next election.

• On political speech, last week, you announced that Facebook would not be doing fact-checking on political ads, giving anyone Facebook labels a politician a platform to lie, mislead and misinform the American people, which will also allow Facebook to sell more ads. The impact of this will be a massive voter suppression effort that will move at the speed of a click. Your claim to promote freedom of speech does not ring true.

Mr. Zuckerberg, each month, 2.7 billion people use your products. That’s over a third of the world’s population. That’s huge. That’s so big that it’s clear to me and to anyone who hears this list, that you believe that you are above the law, and it appears that you are aggressively increasing the size of your company, and are willing to step on or over anyone-- including your competitors, women, people of color, your own users, and even our democracy-- to get what you want. With all of these problems I have outlined, and given the company’s size and reach, it should be clear why we have serious concerns about your plans to establish a global digital currency that would challenge the U.S. dollar.

In fact, you have opened up a serious discussion about whether Facebook should be broken up. 

15  October 2019  Black Business News  www.bbala.org  1-323-291-7819

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WHY WE CELEBRATE VETERANâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S DAY

EXCERPT OF ADDRESS TO FELLOW-COUNTRYMEN BY WOODROW WILSON The White House, November 11, 1919. â&#x20AC;&#x153;â&#x20AC;ŚOut of this victory there arose new possibilities of political freedom and economic concert. The war showed us the strength of great nations acting together for high purposes, and the victory of arms foretells the enduring conquests which can be made in peace when nations act justly and in furtherance of the common interests of men.

To us in America the reflections of Armistice Day will be filled with solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in the countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s service, and with gratitude for the victory, both because of the thing from which it has freed us and because of the opportunity it has given America to show her sympathy with peace and justice in the councils of nations.â&#x20AC;?

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In collaboration with Los Angeles County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas, the Small Business Administration (SBA); Southern California Gas Company, Southern California Edison, and the California Council for Veteran Affairs, Inc.; the Black Business Association (BBA) will present its 2019 Veterans Procurement & Business Conference.

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Thursday, November 7, 2019 8:00 am –3:00 pm Bob Hope Patriotic Hall – 1816 S. Figueroa – Los Angeles, California 90015

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The Veterans Procurement & Business Conference is designed to provide Veteran business owners with contracting and procurement opportunities with private and public sector companies, as well as major Government agencies.

Contract procurement matchmaking opportunities that enable business owners to present their capabilities; their financial literacy sessions; resources for access to capital; and business service resources, specifically for Veterans, will be available. This business conference is FREE to all Veterans. For more information, contact the BBA office at (323) 291-9334 or email: mail@bbala.org.

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PLATINUM EVENT CHAIR: $5,000

Company name & logo prominently featured as a Platinum Event Chair on all event signage, promotional and press materials Logo and links to your Company’s website(s) on the BBA’s website providing branding exposure to each of their vast and strong networks, which is also linked to Veterans Procurement & Business Conference Public acknowledgment of Corporate Sponsorship throughout the Conference Full-Page Color Ad (premium placement) in the event Souvenir Journal Announcements in October and November 2019 Press Releases sent to national media outlets and their accompanying network of members Major coverage in The Black Business News, the official online publication of the Black Business Association and other minority, small business media outlets Certificate of Recognition Prime exhibitor space location to display your products and/or services Provided complimentary private area for contracting/procurement matchmaking vendor interviews

GOLD SPONSOR: $2,500

Company name & logo featured as a Gold Sponsor on all event signage, promotional and press materials Logo and links to your Company’s website(s) on the BBA’s website providing branding exposure each of their vast and strong networks, which is also linked to Veterans Procurement & Business Conference Public acknowledgment of Corporate Sponsorship during the event conference One Full-Page Color Ad in the event Souvenir Journal Certificate of Recognition

SILVER SPONSOR: $1,750

Company name & logo featured as a Silver Sponsor on event signage Logo and links to your Company’s website(s) on the BBA’s website providing branding exposure to each of their vast and strong networks, which is also linked to Veterans Procurement & Business Conference Public acknowledge of sponsorship during the Business Conference Full-Page B&W or Half-Page Color Ad in event Souvenir Journal

EXHIBITOR SPONSOR: $750

Company name & logo featured as Exhibitor on event signage Logo and links to your Company’s website(s) on all event partner event partner websites providing branding exposure to each of their vast and strong networks, which is also linked to Veterans Procurement & Business Conference Public acknowledge of sponsorship during the Business Conference

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BBN Show Biz Buzz

By Linda Ware

Amazon to Offer Samuel L. Jackson Voice for Alexa

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scar-nominated actor Samuel L. Jackson is lending his iconic voice to Amazon's Alexa – profanities and all.

During Amazon's event to unveil new products and services, the online shopping giant announced that Jackson will be the first celebrity voice for its Alexa virtual assistant and was created using neural text-to-speech technology.

There will be both an explicit version and a clean version when the feature launches later this year. The Alexa "skill" will Samuel L. Jackson cost 99 cents as an introductory yifytvseries.com offer. After the introductory period, the price will be $4.99, according to the product page. 

medals in world championships history with 12.

“So special, to have my daughter here watching means the world to me,” Felix told Lewis Johnson on NBCSN. “It’s been a crazy year for me.”

Felix, 33 and the most decorated female track and field athlete at the Olympics with nine medals among four Games, was part of the winning U.S. quartet in the first world championships mixed-gender 4x400m relay, an event that makes its Olympic debut next year.

She split 50.4 seconds.

Wil London III, Felix, Courtney Okolo and Michael Cherry combined to clock a world record 3:09.34 in the young event, prevailing by 2.44 seconds over Jamaica. Bahrain took bronze. Felix already had the record for world championships medals; she’s now up to 17 overall.  https://olympics.nbcsports.com/2019/09/29/allyson-felixusain-bolt-world-championships-record/?fbclid=IwAR0BE4x 843gs0L13Qx9fOKmIDnu5tSNXWs7RI4aL2BsgC9XXQxzzGn _x_XQ

Simone Biles Sets All-time Medal Record

www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2019/09/25/samuel-l-jackson-firstcelebrity-voice-amazon-alexa/2447992001

Allyson Felix Gets First Gold as a Mom

Simone Simo Si mone mo ne B Biles iles il es (Marijan Murat/dpa via AP) [MARIJAN MURAT | AP]

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l l y s o n Felix‘s first gold medal as a mom came with this added significance, too — she broke her tie with Usain Bolt for the most gold Wikipedia

inning her 24th and 25th world championship medals in beam and floor put the United States gymnast top of the all-time medal charts for the championships.

Biles won five gold medals this week. If she can repeat that at next year's Olympics it would be a feat no female gymnast has managed at a single Games.

But for Biles, it's not about the statistics.

"I can't be more thrilled with the performance that I put out at this world championships," she said. The medal record? "I'm not a number person."

20  October 2019  Black Business News  www.bbala.org  1-323-291-7819

Biles' 24th medal came on the beam, breaking a tie for 23 with Belarusian gymnast Vitaly Scherbo.

Biles scored 15.066 after a near-flawless routine, opting for a simpler dismount than the double-double she performed earlier in the championships.

When her score was announced, guaranteeing the medal record, Biles leaped up from her seat with a broad smile and punched the air.

"I was really excited. I thought it was going to be at least a 14.8, 14.9, but to see 15, I was like, 'Well, that's pretty crazy,' so I was very proud," she said.

China took silver and bronze with Liu Tingting on 14.433 and Li Shijia on 14.3, respectively.

Biles won the floor exercise by a full point, scoring 15.133 despite a step out of bounds on one pass, and blew kisses to the audience after finishing her routine.

Her U.S. teammate Lee won silver, her third medal of the championships, while Angelina Melnikova took bronze for Russia.

A fifth place on uneven bars ended Biles' chances of winning a medal in all six events, which she did last year in her comeback world championships after a sabbatical in 2017.

Of her 25 career world medals, 19 are gold.  www.tampabay.com/sports/2019/10/14/simone-biles-setsall-time-medal-record-at-gymnastics-worlds

David Oyelowo to Lead Showtime’s "The President is Missing"

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howtime has announced that Emmy and Golden Globe nominee David Oyelowo (Selma, Nightingale, A Wrinkle in Time) will play the title role in the drama series The President is Missing.

In The President is Missing, a powerless and David Oyelowo politically aimless Vice marketplaceleaders.org President (Oyelowo) unexpectedly becomes President halfway into his administration’s first term, despite his every wish to the contrary. He walks right into a secret, worldthreatening crisis, both inside and outside the White House. Attacked by both friends and enemies alike,

with scandal and conspiracy swirling around him, he is confronted with a terrible choice: keep his head down, toe the party line and survive, or act on his stubborn, late-developing conscience and take a stand.

“Having David as our lead ensures that our series will have the exhilarating suspense of a political thriller along with the juicy complexity of a character drama.”

The pilot is currently in pre-production with filming scheduled to begin in 2020.

The series is based on the bestselling novel by President Bill Clinton and James Patterson, which was the No. 1 novel of 2018 and has sold over 2.3 million copies in North America alone.  https://fyrpodcast.com/news/david-oyelowo-to-leadshowtimes-the-president-is-missing/

Billy Porter Confirms Role in Sony’s ‘Cinderella’ Adaptation

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illy Porter told Deadline he’ll play the Fairy Godmother opposite Camila Cabello, who’s set to star as the glass slipper-wearing lead character.

As Deadline reported earlier, Porter had been in talks to join the film and was nearing a deal.

The actor, who recently won an Emmy for his role as Pray Tell in Pose, also said he’ll be directing an episode of the FX drama in the near future.

In addition to acting and directing, Porter revealed he just signed a deal to pen Billy Porter a memoir.  Zimbio

www.msn.com/en-us/movies/ celebrity/billy-porter-confirms-role-in-sonys-cinderellaadaptation/ar-AAIGQvP?ocid=spartandhp

Brigid Kosgei, Eliud Kipchoge Herald New Era of Fast Marathons

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liud Kipchoge‘s success in breaking the twohour mark (final time: 1:59:40) for the marathon on October 12th was expected. He had come close before, and the feat required meticulous planning

21  October 2019  Black Business News  www.bbala.org  1-323-291-7819

see page 22

BBN Show Biz Buzz from BBN Show Biz Buzz on page 21

Brigid Kosgei REUTERS/Mike Segar

Eliud Kipchoge Getty Images

— the ideal mix of pace-setters, course conditions and weather — to steer a once-in-a-lifetime talent to a once-in-a-lifetime accomplishment.

Brigid Kosgei‘s world record at the Chicago Marathon on October 14th was a far greater surprise.

Kosgei had run fast times before, but her time of 2:14:04 took more than four minutes off her personal best earlier this year in London, which is typically a faster race than Chicago.

Kosgei was running in an actual race and has already had her time touted as a world record by the international organizer IAAF Read more on page 27.  www.msn.com/en-us/tv/news/after-investigation-neil-degrassetyson-will-keep-his-job/ar-AAEUrTd?ocid=spartandhp

Queen Latifah to Receive Harvard Black Culture Award

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usic artist and actress Queen Latifah is among the honorees being recognized by Harvard University this year for their contributions to black history and culture.

Harvard is set to award the W.E.B. Du Bois Medal to Queen Latifah and six other recipients on Oct. 22, according to the Cambridge, Massachusetts, school's Hutchins Center for African and African American Research.

Other honorees include poet and educator Elizabeth Alexander, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution

Lonnie Bunch III, poet Rita Dove, co-founder of Black Entertainment Television Sheila Johnson, artist Kerry James Marshall and Robert Smith, founder, chairman and chief executive of Vista Equity Partners.

The award is named after Du Bois, a scholar, writer, editor, and civil rights pioneer who became the first black student to earn a doctorate from Harvard in 1895. 

Queen Latifah Television Academy

www.yahoo.com/entertainment/family-feud-expand-southafrica-165200139.html Image credits: teeveetee.blogspot.com, complex.com

‘Tina: The Tina Turner Musical’

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rom humble beginnings in Nutbush, Tennessee, to her transformation into the global Queen of Rock 'n' Roll, Tina Turner didn't just break the rules, she rewrote them. This new hit stage musical, presented in association with Tina Turner herself, reveals the untold story of a woman who dared to defy the bounds of her age, gender and race. Book your

22  October 2019  Black Business News  www.bbala.org  1-323-291-7819

Mutu has responded to The Met's invitation by creating four bronze sculptures, individually titled The Seated I, II, III, and IV (2019). As with all of her work, these pieces engage in a critique of gender and racial politics that is as pointed as it is poetic and fantastic. With The NewOnes, will free Us, the artist has reimagined a motif common to the history of both Western and African art: the caryatid, a sculpted figure, almost always female, meant to serve as a means of either structural or metaphorical support.

Mutu's embellishments take a great deal of inspiration from customs practiced by specific groups of high-ranking African women. The horizontal and vertical coils that sheathe the figures' bodies, functioning as garment and armor all in one, reference beaded bodices and circular necklaces, while the polished discs set into different parts of the sculptures' heads allude to lip plates. Belonging to no one time or place, Mutu's hybrid figures are invariably stately, resilient, and self-possessed. They

tickets for TINA by visiting the New York ticket site: https://tinaonbroadway.com.

The Original Cast Recording is now available for download and streaming from the ticket site.  https://tinathemusical.com/

The Met's Facade Commission: Wangechi Mutu The New Ones, will free Us, by Kenyan-American artist Wangechi Mutu, inaugurates an annual commission to animate The Met's historic facade. The facade features four niches that were always intended to house free-standing sculptures, but have long lain empty. In filling them now with Mutu's extraordinary sculptures, the Museum brings to fruition a dream 117 years in the making.

23  October 2019  Black Business News  www.bbala.org  1-323-291-7819

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

announce their authority and autonomy. Appearing to have recently arrived on the facade of The Met, they are the "new ones" who bring word of new ideas and new perspectives.  www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/listings/2019/facadecommission-wangechi-mutu Image credit: Untapped cities

Class of 2019 Filmmakers

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1970s Blaxploitation phenomenon.

Stars include: Wesley Snipes, KeeganMichael Key, Craig Robinson, Chris Rock, and Snopp Dogg. 

he five honorees of the "Great Day in Black Hollywood" are Charles Floyd Johnson, Harry Johnson, Neema Barnett, Oz Scott and Pat Prescott. The awards presentation is a major component of the African American Film Marketplace Rudy Ray Moore WordPress.com and S.E. Manly Short Film Showcase.

The annual event is a program of the Black Hollywood Education and Resource Center (https://bherc.org).

And, be on the lookout for BHERCTV coming soon.  https://slaveplaybroadway.com

"Dolemite is My Name" in Theaters and on Netflix

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n 1970 Los Angeles, struggling comedian Rudy Ray Moore hits it big with his raunchy alter ego, Dolemite.

Eddie Murphy portrays real-life legend Rudy Ray Moore, a comedy and rap pioneer who proved naysayers wrong when his hilarious, obscene, kung-fu fighting alter ego, Dolemite, became a

24  October 2019  Black Business News  www.bbala.org  1-323-291-7819

www.netflix.com/ title/80182014 www.imdb.com/title/ tt8526872/

Community/Public Interest - Winning but Questions

Eliud Kipchoge has Thrust Himself into the Pantheon of All-Time Greats

By Joshua Law

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h e n Nelson Mandela said “It always seems impossible until it’s done,” he probably wasn’t talking about running 26 miles and 385 yards very, very quickly, but this weekend, in the middle of a leafy park in the Austrian capital Vienna, the great South African leader’s words seemed as applicable as ever. Eliud Kipchoge, the Kenyan distance runner, thrust himself into the pantheon of all-time great athletes by becoming the first person to complete a marathon in under two hours.

As Kipchoge’s crossed the line in a time of 1:59:40, pointing and waving to the crowd and looking as relaxed as someone who was taking a Sunday morning stroll in the park, a broad grin spread across his face. Well it might. This was a truly magnificent achievement – the biggest psychological-sporting barrier to be shattered since Roger Bannister ran a mile in under four minutes in 1954. “It is a great feeling to make history in sport after Sir Roger Bannister,” said Kipchoge after the race, “I am the happiest man in the world to be the first human to run under two hours and I can tell people that no human is limited.”

Yet the feeling that this momentous occasion and the purity of Kipchoge’s pursuit is tainted by association is inescapable. The 1:59 challenge, as the event was marketed, was funded in huge part by the petrochemicals giant Ineos, whose Chairman Sir Jim Ratcliffe reportedly pumped around $19m into this attempt. To add to the discomfort, Kipchoge himself is sponsored by American sportwear behemoth Nike, which has been involved in an enormous scandal as coach Alberto Salazar, founder of the Nike Oregon Project, was found guilty of what the US Anti-Doping Agency referred to as “orchestrated doping”.

There have been some questions about the money itself, the 41 rotating pacemakers, the electric car with laser beams that helped maintain the runners’ rhythm

and even the shoes that Kipchoge wore – the Nike ZoomX Vaporfly – which feature a carbon fiber plate in the sole, increase performance by over 4% and will go on sale for around $300 in the coming months.

But sporting technology and strategy are in constant evolution; that is a small part of what makes watching any athletic endeavor so enthralling and should not be used a brush with which to spread tar over the Kenyan’s achievement. The source of those resources, though, is of more concern.

Ineos, a company founded and still majority owned

by Britain’s richest man, Jim Ratcliffe, is one of the world’s foremost producers of non-degradable plastics, a product that threatens the health of our oceans. That Ratcliffe chose to associate his brand with two sports, cycling and running, that promote environmentally friendly forms of transportation feels uncomfortable but is surely not a coincidence.

The Nike links are also unfortunate. Kipchoge himself, it must be said, had never trained with the banned Salazar. This was not the first time Kipchoge had attempted to break the two-hour mark and it was Nike that exclusively funded the narrowly unsuccessful run at Monza in 2017.

When asked about Salazar’s ban on Friday, Kipchoge responded that, “In a garden, there are flowers and there are weeds. In Vienna we are talking about the flowers.” His coach, Patrick Sang, said that it would be a “tragedy” to link Kipchoge to the disgraced project, and his choice of adjective was correct.

None of this takes away from the magnitude of the achievement or from Kipchoge’s individual brilliance, but it does raise questions for those who love sport.

In a world where dictatorial regimes and companies that have made huge amounts of money from morally objectionable activities are becoming increasingly involved with soccer clubs, cycling teams and elite athletes, we must think about how to handle this intrusion. Sporting brilliance remains thrilling, but which principles are we willing to forego to see it attained? www.forbes.com/sites/joshualaw/2019/10/13/eliud-kipchoge-hasthrust-himself-into-the-pantheon-of-all-time-greatsbut-his-sub-twohour-marathon-is-tainted-by-association/#12ec7f961cdc

25  October 2019  Black Business News  www.bbala.org  1-323-291-7819

Business - Another First

Inside Tyler Perry Studios' Grand Opening Gala With Oprah, Beyoncé and More Stars

By Kim Ford

never on his knees. He gets what he needs because he provided it."

Davis also beamed with admiration.

"Tonight is history. Tonight is not just entertainment and flamboyancy, it's not just an excuse to get dressed up. It's an excuse to celebrate a historic moment, which is a black artist taking control of their artistic life and the vision that God has for their life," she said. "What's happened with us historically is we're waiting for people to get us. We're waiting for people to throw us a crumb. That's not what Tyler Perry has done. I want to be able to look back on this and say 'I was there.'"

Winfrey added of Perry: "Tyler is my little big brother. To see him rise to this moment that I know he's dreamed about, planned, defined, clarify for himself, it's just a fulfillment of a dream. It's wonderful to see."

Samuel L. Jackson Getty Images

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ollywood stars came out in full force for the grand opening of Tyler Perry Studios in Atlanta. The red carpet buzz surrounded Perry's history-making as the first African American actor-director-writer-producer to own a studio outright with no partners or corporate backing.

A-list stars including Viola Davis, Ava DuVernay, Oprah Winfrey, Whoopi Goldberg, Halle Berry, Samuel L. Jackson, Tiffany Haddish and Stacey Abrams walked the carpet lined with walls adorned in roses and shared their admiration and support for Perry.

"Why did it take so long?" Goldberg wondered in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter.

"Why was he the first to get it? Now he's the man who makes the decisions, chooses the movies, and he doesn't have to ask anybody for shit. There's nothing better than that. He's

Stedman Graham and Oprah Winfrey Getty Images

26  October 2019  Black Business News  www.bbala.org  1-323-291-7819

As for Perry himself, he talked to THR about the "God-given" opportunity to open his own studios: "What it means is that I get an opportunity to pass it on to people. I get to share it. I get to inspire people and encourage them. That is what it's all about."

Perry also touched on the legacy of the late Diahann Carroll, who died from cancer the day

Stacy Adams Getty Images before. "Her level of grace, class and inspiration was just beyond anything I could ever imagine," he said.

"The very fact that we were able to have her on the planet at the same time as we are, we should all be very, very blessed."

Following the red carpet, guests such as Diddy and his son Quincy were shuttled by trolley to a swanky cocktail reception where Denzel Washington, Spike Lee, T.D. Jakes, Usher, T. I., Jill Scott and Patti

Tyler Perry theepochtimes.com

LaBelle shared the room.

Perry kicked off the reception by sharing the story of what inspired him to move to Atlanta in 1992. "I saw black people doing well for the first time in my life. I saw black doctors, lawyers and other professionals and thought, 'This is the promised land. I can make it here!'" At the time Perry lived in a weekly hotel on Buford Highway. He also reflected on the influence of his mother and God in his life: "It was my mother who taught me about faith. No matter what hell was going on in the house, she taught me about faith and God," he said. "Nobody is teaching kids enough about faith [today]. About how to pray your way through a situation rather than turning to drugs or some other alternative.

If my mother hadn't given me that, I don't know where I would be."

In a room of about 800 guests, Perry highlighted one special person in attendance who influenced him: Winfrey. "In 2005, Oprah invited me to her Legends Ball," he revealed. "I saw Diana Ross, Smokey Robinson, Tom Cruise and Sidney Poitier, and I said, 'What am I doing here?' I didn't know I said it out loud, but Yolanda Adams was sitting next to me and she said, 'You belong here.' By the end of the party I said, 'I'm going to dream bigger.' It was something about being in Oprah's house, being in her presence, seeing what a black person had accomplished — it really, really spoke to me."

He told his audience of the impact he'd like to make at the studios' grand opening. "If I can get you to leave this weekend feeling like I did that day, we're going to change some major things in this world. Sometimes your dreams are on life support. You don't know if you'll

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see page 28

Business - Another First see page 29

make it, but being exposed to something bigger can give your dreams the life it needs," he added.

"If I can build studios on this land that was once a confederate army base …" The crowd burst into applause, as Perry added, "We all get to stand here equally — black, white, whatever — this is the American dream."

After another resounding cheer from the crowd, he turned the floor over to Jennifer Hudson, who sang Andy Williams' "The Impossible Dream."

Guests were then given a tour of the 330-acre studio and each of the 12 soundstages, all named after iconic African American legends in the industry: Cicely Tyson, Sidney Poitier, Harry Belafonte, Oprah Winfrey, Whoopi Goldberg, Will Smith, Halle Berry, Denzel Washington, Spike Lee, Ruby Dee, Ossie Davis and Diahann Carroll.

Beyoncé and Jay-Z, Maxwell, Colin Kaepernick and Ambassador Andrew Young, among others, attended the tour, which stopped at each stage, where a representative christened it by breaking a bottle of champagne against the studio wall.

Will Smith gave words of inspiration to future actors on the guided studio tour. "Bring great energy to set every single day. It's m o m e n t - t o - m o m e n t Tiffany Haddish Getty Images when people of power will make a decision whether or not they want you there. Show up on time and do great work," he said. "Don't make it hard to make hits. Tyler went out on a limb to make this happen, now hits have to come out of this studio. There's so much on the line. Many people have suffered for us to be standing here."

He quipped: "They don't need your ass showing up late with an attitude."

After the walk through each stage, guests entered the final room filled with white roses for a candlelit dinner that featured a mini-concert

by Mary J. Blige. Perry

Halle Berry (left) and Whoopi Goldberg Getty Ima

28  October 2019  Black Business News  www.bbala.org  1-323-291-7819

Will Smith (left) and Sidney Poitier Zimbo also orchestrated an impromptu performance with Tevin Campbell, Johnny Gill, Monica and Keith Washington.

As guests took to the dance floor, Haddish took over the DJ booth and spun beats to end the evening. ď &#x192; www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/inside-tyler-perry-studios-grand-openinggala-1245752

ages

Portion of Tyler Perry Studios, Atlanta YouTube

Business - Back to the Future (or the ISS).

Yet the supply chain’s hefty expense is due almost entirely to weight. Why? It costs $10,000 per pound just to get an object out of the Earth’s

By Peter Diamandis, peter@diamandis.com gravity well. And because it takes months for that object to actually reach the Space Station, a significant portion of the ISS’s precious real estate is taken up by storage of replacement parts.

D printing is about to transform manufacturing In other words, the most expensive supply chain in as we know it, decimating waste, multiplying history leads to the most exotic junkyard in the cosmos. speed to market, and harnessing never-beforeThe first-ever company seeking to solve these used materials. problems, Made in Space (https://madeinspace.us) had Already forecast to hit US$15.8 billion in value by the ambitious goal to build a 3D printer that works in 2020, additive manufacturing products and services zero gravity. And just a few years later, Made in Space are projected to more than double to $35.6 billion by is now in space. For this reason, on a 2018 ISS mission, 2024. Just five years from today. when an astronaut broke his finger, the team no longer But not only will 3D printing turn supply chains needed to order a splint from Earth and wait months on their head here on Earth—shifting how and for its arrival. who manufactures our products—but it will be the Instead, they flipped on their 3D printer, loaded in vital catalyst for making space colonies (and their some feed stock, found “splint” in their blueprint archive, infrastructure) possible. and created what they needed, when they needed it.

Welcome to the 2030 era of tailor-made, rapid-fire, Successes like that of Made in Space represent a ultra-cheap, and zero-waste product creation… on our level of on-demand manufacturing capability unlike planet, and far beyond. anything we’ve seen before.

3D Printing Everything!

3

3D printing on the ISS Today, the most expensive supply chain in the known universe extends only 241 miles.

Jutting straight up from mission control down here on Earth, this resupply network extends directly to the astronauts aboard the International Space Station

But how did we get here…?

The original 3D printers showed up back in the 80s.

They were clunky, slow, hard to program, easy to break, and worked with only one material: Plastic.

Today, these machines have colonized most of the periodic table. We can now print in over 500 different

materials, in full color, in metals, rubber, plastic, glass, concrete, and even in organic materials, such as cells, leather and chocolate.

The interfaces are nearly plug-and-play simple— meaning if you can learn to use Facebook, you can probably learn to 3D print.

And what we can now print is astounding. From jet engines to apartment complexes to circuit boards to prosthetic limbs, 3D printers can fabricate enormously

requires. Other than the space required for printing materials and the printer itself, 3D printing all but erases supply chains, transportation networks, stock rooms, warehouses and all the rest.

This one development—this single exponential technology—threatens to demonetize, dematerialize and democratize the entire $12 trillion manufacturing industry.

And once again, this development was a long time coming.

Until the early 2000s, 3D printers were exceptionally pricey toys. This started to shift in 2007, when what was once a several-hundred-thousand-dollar machine became available for under $10,000.

Just one year later, the first 3D-printed objects hit the market. Housewares, jewelry, clothing, even prosthetic limbs.

Transportation was next: 2011 saw the world’s first 3D-printed car. Jet engines soon followed, and rocket engines were not far behind.

But 2017 was the year that additive manufacturing entered its disruptive phase. By then, printing speeds had increased 150-fold, the variety of materials had increased 500-fold, and printers themselves could now be purchased for under $1,000.

3D Printing Convergences

Open Bionics Hero Arm complex devices in ever-shorter timeframes.

Moreover, because objects are being built one layer at a time, customization requires nothing more than altering a digital file. Design complexity, what was once one of the most expensive components of the manufacturing process, now comes for free.

And in a big win for our planet, 3D printing also cleans up the process.

In comparison, traditional manufacturing is about turning more into less. Start with a big hunk of whatever, and carve, shave, and shred your way down to the desired object. Most of what you’re producing along the way is waste.

But 3D printing turns this process on its head. By building up objects one layer at a time, the process uses 10% of the raw materials of traditional manufacturing.

Nor is it just waste that vanishes.

The on-demand nature of 3D printers removes the need for inventory and everything that inventory

As price dropped and performance increased, convergences began to arise—and this is what moves 3D printing from a manufacturing revolution to a society-wide force for change.

Take computing, for instance. A couple years back, the Israeli company Nano Dimension (www.nano-di. com) brought the first commercial circuit board printer to market, a development that lets designers prototype new circuit boards in hours instead of months. Since the design of circuit boards is a brake on the speed of computer development—that is, a brake on the biggest driver of technological acceleration—this convergence doesn’t just represent a revolution in computer manufacturing; it puts the pedal to the metal on an already accelerated process.

Another convergence sits at the intersection of energy and 3D printing, wherein additive manufacturing is already making batteries, wind turbines and solar cells— three of the most expensive and important components of the renewables revolution.

And even transportation is seeing similar impacts.

Engines used to be among the most complicated machines on the planet. GE’s advanced turboprop, for instance, once contained 855 individually milled components. Today, with 3D printing, it has twelve. The upside? A hundred pounds of weight reduction and a see page 32

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Business - Back to the Future Winsun 3D printing 6-floor project winsun3d/com

from page 31

20% improvement in fuel burn.

Yet another convergence involves 3D printing and biotech. The first few 3D-printed prosthetics arrived in 2010. And today, hospitals are rolling them out at scale. Just last year, for instance, a Jordanian hospital introduced a program that can fit and build a prosthetic for an amputee in only 24 hours. The price tag? Less than US$20. Meanwhile, as 3D printers can now print electronics, we’re seeing innovations like the Hero Arm: the world’s first 3D-printed, multi-grip bionic prosthetic available at non-bionic prices (https://openbionics.com/ hero-arm).

And replacement body parts are about to become replacement organs.

Back in 2002, scientists at Wake Forest University 3D-printed the first kidney capable of filtering blood and producing urine. In 2010, Organovo (https://organovo. com), a San Diego-based bioprinting outfit, created the first blood vessel. And today, San Francisco-based 3D tissue printing company Prellis Biologics (www. prellisbio.com) is achieving record speeds in its pursuit

of printed human tissue with viable capillaries. In success, these additive manufacturing breakthroughs could forever end our shortage of donor organs.

And in the realm of real estate and infrastructure, the construction industry will be downright unrecognizable within just a few years.

In 2014, the Chinese company WinSun (www. winsun3d.com/En) successfully 3D-printed 10 single family homes in under 24 hours, each costing less than $5,000. A few months later, WinSun was at it again, printing a 5-story apartment complex in the course of a mere weekend. And in 2017, a different Chinese company combined 3D printing with modular construction to erect a 57-story skyscraper in 19 days.

But a story that might best illustrate the worldchanging power of 3D printing belongs to a guy named Brett Devita.

Sickened by the tent cities he saw in Haiti after the earthquake, Devita decided to find a way to use emerging technology to provide permanent shelter for people who need it most. Forming a non-profit called New Story (https://newstorycharity.org), he raised research capital from a group of investors known only

32  October 2019  Black Business News  www.bbala.org  1-323-291-7819

Titanyen, Haiti newstorycharity.crg

as “the Builders” and created a solarpowered 3D printer that can work in the worst environments imaginable. Greatly democratizing the field, Devita’s printer erects a 400-800 square-foot home in 48 hours at the cost of about $4,000.

But these homes aren’t bunkers—they consist of nifty modern designs complete with wrap-around porches.

And in the fall of this year (2019), New Story is starting construction of the world’s first 3D-printed community—100 homes to be given or sold (using no interest, micro-repayment loans available to anyone) to people who are currently homeless.

Final Thoughts 3D printing is not a mere paradigm shift in manufacturing.

It is fundamentally democratizing access to vital resources, redefining nodes of power in contemporary supply chains, and turning wasteful production processes into closed-loop economies.

Whether a bearer of infinite organ supply or trillions of sensors, 3D printing and the production materials it unlocks will permeate every industry imaginable.

And even in some of the most barren of environments—

New Story affordable housing techstartups.com

think: lonesome planets, disaster zones, or scattered among asteroids in space—additive manufacturing is one tomorrow’s greatest conduits for converting scarcity to abundance….  www.diamandis.com/blog/future-of-3d-printing This blog is an excerpt from the book The Future is Faster Than You Think (www.amazon.com/FutureFaster-Than-You-Think-ebook/dp/B07TD6GPVR), coauthored with Steven Kotler, to be released January 28th, 2020.

Image credit: 3dprint.com, open-bionics.breezy.hr

33  October 2019  Black Business News  www.bbala.org  1-323-291-7819

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At East West Bank, we offer all the products and services you expect from a big bank with the high level of personal attention you expect from a local bank. Our bankers have over 40 years of experience helping minority businesses reach their financial goals. We look forward to working closely with you to customize a financial solution tailored to your unique situation.

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Business - Branding

Inc. Launches 'The Fundery' to Help Women Find Investment Funding

By Admin Hero

A

ccording to some estimates, women-led business ventures attract a mere 2.3% of all investment capital – which explains why so many female entrepreneurs cite funding as one of their biggest obstacles to success. Inc. recently launched a new online, searchable database called The Fundery

(www.inc.com/essential-guide-venture-capital-womenfounders.html) that hopes to help change that dynamic

by helping female business owners find the investors they need.

Inc.com Editor-at-large Kimberly Weisul described The Fundery as “the essential venture capital database for women entrepreneurs” and explained Inc.’s approach to addressing the gender gap in investment funding.

She wrote that the problem isn’t a lack of venture funds willing to invest in female-led enterprises; the real problem is that “there’s never been an easy way to figure out who these VCs are and what they’re looking for.” The Fundery was created to address that concern and provide a simple, user-friendly way for female founders to identify those investors.

The searchable database of investment funding opportunities allows users to search based on their specific funding stage (early, growth, or seed), industry type, and regional location (East, West, Midwest, South, Northeast, and International.

To date, Inc. has identified dozens of funds that are focused on providing investment funding for female-led startups and growth companies: Inc. estimates that

approximately 57 funds have been started to invest just in women and women-led companies. Collectively, they represent more than $1.5 billion.

Weisul explained that the database’s current list of venture capital funds includes those that “take equity stakes in women entrepreneurs or womenled companies as the execution of all or part of their investment theses.” The Inc. list of investors does not include special purpose vehicles, and it only includes angel networks if they also operate a venture capital fund.

Inc. reportedly plans to update The Fundery list with new funds as they’re identified, and encourages funds that invest in women to contact the company for inclusion in the database.  https://nextgenhero.io/entrepreneurship/inc-launches-thefundery-to-help-women-find-investment-funding/ Image credit: dreamstime.com

JS #connectology @jsprinkles

35  October 2019  Black Business News  www.bbala.org  1-323-291-7819

Business - Security Alert

Real ID: What Meeting Planners and Travelers Should Know

By Andrea Doyle

T

ravelers will need Real IDcompliant identification cards to board domestic flights starting October 1, 2020 as the U.S. Department of Homeland Security will officially begin enforcing the REAL ID Act of 2005 at airports. This will require all Americans to present REAL ID-compliant identification to go through security.

This identification will include “Real ID-compliant” driver’s licenses, US passports, US military IDs or other accepted identification to fly within the United States.

Americans aren’t prepared, according to the U.S. Travel Association, the non-profit that promotes travel to and within the United States. It is important that you realize this and educate your meeting and incentive attendees.

According to the U.S. Travel Association, 57% are unaware of the October 1, 2020 deadline.

Furthermore, an estimated 182 million Americans, 72%, either

have a standard driver’s license or are unsure whether their ID is REAL ID-compliant, and an estimated 99 million Americans, 39%, do not have any form of identification that would be accepted on October 1, 2020.

“Our survey gave us the answer we didn’t want to hear: that there is alarming lack of awareness and preparedness a short year out from REAL ID going into full effect,” says Roger Dow, U.S. Travel’s president and CEO. “This is significant not only because it will inconvenience travelers and create confusion at U.S. airports—it could do significant damage to our nation’s economy.

All 50 states are part of the Real ID program and will being issuing compliant driver’s licenses this year. U.S. Travel is urging people not to wait to get their Real IDcompliant driver’ license so that

state licensing agencies won’t get overwhelmed by requests for new driver’s licenses next summer as the deadline approaches.

Such licenses will feature a special mark, typically in the upper right corner of the license. The marks vary by state but typically will include a gold or black star, or a gold or black circle with a white or black star inside the circle. Some states will be issuing cards marked with their state emblem or an outline of the state with a gold, black or white star incorporated in it.

For more information about Real ID-compliant identification cards, go to www.tsa.gov/real-id.  www.prevuemeetings.com/meetingsand-incentives/real-id-meeting-plannersknow/?utm_source=eblast&utm_ medium=email&utm_campaign=story_of_ the_day_100519&utm_content=button Image credit: 1470wmbd.com

36  October 2019  Black Business News  www.bbala.org  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 staďŹ&#x20AC; 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 staďŹ&#x20AC; will host informal interviews with firms before the workshop, starting at 9:00 a.m.

Tuesday, November 12, 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 - Holiday Marketing

Holiday Marketing Prep: 8 Tips for Email & Social Media

By Ryan Pinkham

L

et’s be honest: small businesses have a lot of competition during the holiday season.

For the “big guys,” waiting for the end of November is fine. They can unleash an onslaught of commercials, billboards, radio jingles, newspaper flyers, magazine spreads, and big money sponsorships for those holiday TV movies we’ve all seen 10,000 times. And it works—every year.

But for small businesses, success around the holidays means getting customers ready early, even when they may be reluctant to do so.

You may not have a million dollar TV budget or Grammy-worthy holiday jingles to do it, but you do have the power of social media and email marketing.

Here are eight tips for using email and social media to help you stand out from the “big guys.”

1. Develop a schedule to help build holiday momentum Momentum will be crucial in determining whether or not this year’s holiday season will be one worth celebrating for your business. But you can’t build momentum around your business unless you have a plan for how you’re going to do it.

One way to start is by creating a schedule. The schedule should map out the weeks and months leading up and through the holiday season with specific goals for each of the big days. The specific holidays you plan to target may vary based on your business and your customer base, but all businesses should be aware of the four biggest shopping and giving days of the holiday season: • Black Friday – November 29, 2019 • Small Business Saturday – November 30, 2019 • Cyber Monday – December 2, 2019 • Giving Tuesday – December 3, 2019

2. Pay attention to what your followers, and readers really want this year If you want your business to be part of your customers’ holiday plans this season, you’re going to need to deliver content they actually care about.

Now I know what you’re thinking: “Shouldn’t I always deliver content my followers and readers care about?”

The answer is yes, but this is especially important during the holidays when your customers are not only busy, but are also bombarded by content from other businesses fighting for their attention.

Consider using a survey to collect customer feedback in the fall, before the holiday craze has started. You can send your survey to all of your email subscribers or post it on your Facebook Page and ask your fans what they are most interested in receiving from your business this holiday season.

Use that customer feedback to not only improve the content you’re sending out, but to also better target your messages by segmenting your email contact list. When segmenting your list, you should also look at other information that’s available to you like: open and click through rates, purchasing behaviors, and the preferences people chose when signing up for your newsletter.

3. Be a resource, not just a sales pitch One of the main reasons people are typically reluctant to shift their focus to the holidays is that they are not always eager to start thinking about the lessthan-celebratory work that goes into them. While the holidays are—without a doubt—a time for celebration and giving thanks, they are also a time of great stress for a lot of your customers.

Don’t add to that stress by overwhelming them with sales-y content and aggressive promotion; instead, provide your contacts with something they can actually use this holiday season. It can be something as simple as advice for preparing their shopping list, tips for throwing a dinner party, or even a special coupon for subscribers only.

You can also post tips on Facebook or share articles on Twitter. If your business uses Pinterest, consider creating boards to give your followers inspiration leading up to the holiday season.

38  October 2019  Black Business News  www.bbala.org  1-323-291-7819

This year, start your holiday promotion by helping your customers; they’ll remember it when it comes time to buy.

4. Don’t try to do too much, too soon One of the biggest questions we get from small businesses (at all times of the year) is how often should they post on social media or send emails to their subscribers. This is an especially important question when we’re talking about how to get your customers ready for the holiday season.

The fact is, most of your customers aren’t going to be ready to start thinking about the holidays until it starts feeling like summer is officially over. Don’t overwhelm them by flooding their inbox and newsfeed with holiday promotions.

When creating your schedule, pay attention to how much holiday content you’re planning to post. Make sure you’re giving your customers the chance to ease into it, rather than trying to force them to get in the spirit. It can be helpful to think of things in terms of percentages—for example: in September, post 20% holiday content, in October, 30% holiday content, and in November, 50% holiday content.

5. Give them what they signed up for: exclusive content Your customers didn’t become followers or readers of your email just because they love your products or services. For many of them, it was to receive exclusive content and special promotions from your business.

Telling your readers and fans about upcoming holiday promotions or giving them a sneak peek at new seasonal products is the best way to build holiday excitement and give them the exclusive content they want.

6. Make the holidays an event You don’t have to wait for the big shopping days, or even the official day of the holiday, to give your customers a reason to celebrate this season. In fact, planning an event earlier in the season—before your customers’ schedules get filled with work parties and family gatherings—is a great way to get your customers in the holiday state-of-mind.

It’s also a great opportunity to help make a difference this holiday season, by partnering with a local nonprofit and doing some fundraising for a cause that’s important to you as a business owner.

You can also use your event as a way of collecting valuable email contacts before the holiday season by using online event registration.

7. Remember what works during the other seasons

It’s important to remember that not everything changes during the holiday season. The best practices and strategies you use in your email marketing and social media throughout the year will not only still be effective in November and December, but they will help you engage your customers in September and October and get them ready for the holiday push.

Using rich media, like photos and videos, for example, is a great way to start building that excitement. Think about the types of things we’ve already talked about: providing exclusive content, being a resource, not being too promotional—photos are a great way to accomplish all of these things. Post pictures from past holidays or give a sneak peek at new products, and then ask your fans to comment, like, or share.

If you haven’t used videos in the past, or even if you have, think about shooting a short video every couple of weeks or once a month leading into the holiday season. Something as simple as a video on your smartphone can give you the chance to tell your fans what you’re working on for the fall and what you have coming up for the holidays.

8. Be authentic One of the biggest reasons people choose to shop with small businesses is the personal connection they’re able to provide.

While your bigger competitors will have to rely on fictional stories—and inauthentic holiday moments to connect with customers in the months leading up to the holidays—you have the ability to offer the real thing and can use your own experiences to make that special connection.

Do you have personal experiences your customers will enjoy or stories from past holiday promotions that will get them excited for what you have planned this year? Use them to create a personal connection your customers will love and to generate buzz around this year’s big season.

Do you have holiday traditions your customers would enjoy hearing about? Tell them in your email newsletter!

Put your best practices into action this holiday season Chances are you’re probably already doing most of the things you’ll need to do when it comes time to get your customers ready for the holiday season.

Creating a schedule, being a resource, using rich media, or providing a personal connection are all things that have helped you build your social communities and drive real results from your email marketing.

Now all you need to do is put them into action!  https://blogs.constantcontact.com/holiday-marketing-prep-8-tipsfor-email-and-social-media/ Image credit: Mahogany Hallmark Cards

39  October 2019  Black Business News  www.bbala.org  1-323-291-7819

(323) 868-2621

Business - New CoWorking Space Targeting Women of Color

Entrepreneur Opens Coworking Space For Women of Color

By MG Media

B

lackbird House of Coworking, the first-ever private global coworking space designed by and for women of color, has opened its first location headquartered in Culver City, California.

Founder, Bridgid Coulter, designed Blackbird House to foster a collective of women of color and their allies, of all ethnicities and genders, with similar values rooted in diversity and inclusion. Blackbird House memberships offer three life-essential pillars: • Productivity and access to the necessary tools for women of color to thrive professionally and personally, such as business services, professional workshops, and programming.

• Wellness offerings to support effective worklife balance including daily yoga and meditation classes, a fitness center, kombucha on tap and a cafe with healthy options.

• A community rooted in diversity and inclusion, that welcomes and connects members through meet & greets, special interest clubs, and mentorship, to nurture members’ goals and growth.

design firm, Coulter once found herself as a member of other coworking spaces in Los Angeles, where she sought the need to fill a void that those facilities lacked - diversity and inclusiveness. “My efforts to bring this new collective into being is the most tangible path I know to be of service to others in a meaningful way; to build a community with access for women of all stripes who are striving to make their mark around the globe.

Now, with Blackbird, we have an opportunity to find each other,” explains Coulter.

Blackbird House is self-funded by Coulter and led by an advisory board made up entirely by women of color including, Dayna Lynne North, writer and executive producer of HBO’s Insecure; Valeria Hernandez, community organizer; Christina Gomes, social entrepreneur; and Toni Thompson, tech and entertainment media strategist. Blackbird House is hosting a grand opening and financial panel, Saturday, October 26. Patrons wanting to learn more about membership, visit www.blackbird.house. Content Curated By MG Media.

As an entrepreneur with her own successful boutique 41  October 2019  Black Business News  www.bbala.org  1-323-291-7819

Business - Travel Profile

Here’s What the Woman to Run Business Travel

By Parker Diakite

with during the three weeks of each month that she’s away from home?

Bryant Howroyd first wrote about her must travel essentials back in 2017, and they’re still relevant today, according to a few posts on her Twitter feed (@ JBryantHowroyd). Check out her travel essentials below.

Black Forest Candles “Smell is key to comfort for me.

When I walk into my home, I enjoy inhaling sweet, refreshing smells that bring a sense of calm to my spirit as well as a smile to my face.

Candles offer my hotel rooms the personalized touch of scents from home. As I alter scents in my home, so do I alter the candles that travel Tasking at airports! A regular thing. @JBryantHowroyd with me to places often unfamiliar.

Investing as much time as I do as a guest of different anice Bryant Howroyd is the Founder and hotels all over the world, it’s nice to have the scent of Chief Executive Officer of ActOne Group, an my home present when talking from a distance with my employment agency that provides consulting and loved ones!” business services to a variety of industries.

Operating in 19 countries across the world with more Onesies “Whether I’m at home or in a hotel, the second than 17,00 clients and 2,600 employees worldwide, thing I do upon entering the bedroom is jump into my Bryant Howroyd is the first African American woman to operate a company that generates more than $1 billion onesie. Having nothing between me and my onesie in annual revenue, according to Black Enterprise keeps me comfy and free to move in all directions… whether cooking, tasking or even – from time to time – Magazine.

So, what does a billion-dollar chief executive travel conference calling! There isn’t one particular brand of onesies that I suggest, as I love them all!”

J

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

e First Black n a Billion Dollar s With

Vitamins “Often, I’ve declared that ‘discipline is not a dirty word’, and following the example of many smart people, ‘I don’t live to eat…I eat to live’. In addition to smart eating, I believe in supplementing my diet with daily vitamins. Health is true wealth and I am devoted to leading a healthy lifestyle. My body is my temple and I honor it from the inside out. My Onesies help me to get comfy during hotel stays. @JBryantHowroyd daily vitamin regime ensures that I am able to perform at an optimal level for my business, headphones for me. My Beats allow me to remove clients, and family. I take a personalized blend that ancillary noises and comfort myself with privacy while my acupuncturist created for me, but you can have being thoughtful to those around me. True up! Everyone excellent vitamins added to your daily diet by asking would want to hear what I’m listening to during flights; your doctors what vitamins would be best for you.” however, my Beats give me the freedom to please only me! From a technical standpoint, the audio is always iPad “I have fully embraced and enjoyed technology. If very crisp and clear, and beats are so comfortable you’ve followed me on social media for any time at all, that you can often find me with them around my neck you know that My iPad is always with me! I engage between flights!

One more thing……Beats are awesome to listen or apps, check my email, listen to music, and receive watch ‘me only’ stuff when in hotels with thin walls or news updates. Based on the advantages of technology, everyone can run a business from an iPad! (or from a next to my resting Hubbie.”  smartphone).

My iPad not only keeps me connected to my businesses; it also keeps me present to my family. I can FaceTime with my husband, children, and all who I dearly love. Staying proactive with emails and texts while on the move helps me keep pace with the obligations of each day.”

https://legacy.travelnoire.com/what-black-womanbillion-dollar-business-travels-with/

Headphones “Next to onesies, candles, and flowers, one of my favorite things is my Solo Beats 3. No airline-issued 43  October 2019  Black Business News  www.bbala.org  1-323-291-7819

Business - Breakthrough

On Reinvention and Remission: Chef Elle Simone Scott Is Paving the Way for Women of Color in the Culinary Industry

By Latoya Shauntay Snell

D

etroit native chef Elle Simone Scott (www. instagram.com/shechefinc_elle) is one of the

scintillating on-air talents and food stylists on America’s Test Kitchen. Her rich roots and passion for culinary arts were inspired by cooking with her grandmother at a very young age; years later, she’d moonlight in the hospitality industry after earning credentials from Eastern Michigan University to be a social worker.

“I always worked at least two jobs, and if one of them was cooking, I was very happy,” says Scott.

After getting laid off from her position as a social worker—and eventually hitting rock bottom—she explored opportunities in the culinary field.

“I cannot say that [culinary] was really my choice; it was very organic. The only other thing I loved was food and cooking. I lost my home, car, everything—that’s how my first real cooking job came about. I decided to work on a major cruise line.”

Four years after her full-time transition into the hospitality industry, Scott enrolled in culinary school— and quickly learned how complicated the business can be. An internship with the Food Network provided her initial exposure to culinary media, food styling and networking with established peers, eventually allowing her to gain culinary clients of her own.

Shortly after, she pursued her master’s degree in entertainment business from Full Sail University and transitioned into a career as a culinary producer: a multifaceted position that dabbles in all areas on set to run a smooth production. Her experience now includes being the culinary producer of season 2 of Bravo’s hit television show Chef Roble and Company, Throwdown With Bobby Flay and the Cooking Channel.

Progressing her way through a multilayered industry, she landed more exceptional positions, working alongside The Chew’s Carla Hall at the Barbados Food, Wine and Rum Festival and becoming a Chef Scott America's Test Kicth food stylist for Michael Symon and Daphne Oz. Blossoming in the culinary industry has been a blessing, but despite her qualifications, Scott has experienced disappointment in the field she loves, being passed up for many opportunities. She explains: I vividly remember being called by the hiring manager of a major network with excitement in her voice, [calling me] the “perfect candidate.” I was told that I’d be moving to the next round of interviews, and then I didn’t get a call back. Inquiring about the follow-up, I was met with her less-than-enthusiastic—almost bothered—tone.

The job was given to a young woman who just finished her internship—she was white.

That’s just one example, and there are quite a few—each one heartbreaking and disconcerting. The takeaway for me was that when something new or different is happening, it’s always met with resistance.

I always knew that it was my personal mission to end these cycles by breaking down these barriers. I later learned that like any building, there’s ways to get in other than the front door; I began to curate my career, diversify my résumé and make myself marketable.

And she did—Scott is the founder of SheChef (www. shechef.org), a culinary mentorship and leadership program for aspiring women chefs and professionals.

In a male-dominated industry, chef Elle noted that

44  October 2019  Black Business News  www.bbala.org  1-323-291-7819

hen

Chef Elle Simone Scott (Kevin Eduard White)

food styling and culinary production are not. “These are probably two of few areas dominated by women, [but] women of color remain a minority in these areas.”

She cites culinary producers like like Ma’at Zachary and owners of Powerhouse Productions Rochelle Brown and Sonia Armstead as excellent examples in the industry, while Rosecleer-Marie Powell and Sade Aguila are two of many slaying the food styling game.

But Scott’s rise in the culinary world was interrupted by her diagnosis with stage 1C, grade 3 ovarian cancer—a cancerous tumor resting on her right ovary.

Enduring six rounds of chemotherapy over a five-month period and laparoscopic surgery removing her ovary and right fallopian tube, she experienced emotional and physical changes.

“I dealt with perpetual nausea but never once vomited, extreme fatigue and worked all about a total of eight days within that five-month period,” she says. “I was on a large amount of steroids, getting medication— Taxol and Carboplatin—intravenously and gained 23 pounds that I’m still struggling to lose. I couldn’t eat much unless it was salty; lost all of my hair, even my eyelashes. I had my last round of chemo at the end of January 2017.”

She credited cancer with curing her of “personal vanity” and opts to spend more time being “present,” valuing life a bit more. This January (2018) will mark a year in remission, but whenever she experiences aches, pains and changes that aren’t documented as side effects, she’s a bit skeptical.

“Anyone having unattended health issues: GO TO THE DOCTOR!” she urges. “I feel like people of color, especially black Americans, have issues with approaching health care in this country—not that I blame them one bit. As it relates to cancer and most other diseases, early detection can and possibly will save your life. Genetic testing is a new tool for detection; request it and accept it if offered. As clichéd as it sounds, stay positive. I believe healing begins in the mind and resonates through the body.”

Scott advises fighters and survivors to embrace their feelings—good or bad. Despite others’ perspectives, take as much rest as needed and do as many things you enjoy as you can. “Cancer is what you had or have, not who you are,” she says. Women like Elle prove that the sky’s the limit; we’ll be looking forward to her future endeavors https://theglowup.theroot.com/on-reinvention-and-remission-chefelle-simone-scott-is-1822319361

45  October 2019  Black Business News  www.bbala.org  1-323-291-7819

Business - Startup Competes

StrattyX Lets You Buy and Sell Shares Using Automated Rules

By Romain Dillet

S

trattyX (www.strattyx.com) is a trading interface that lets you set up sophisticated “if-this-thenthat” rules and execute orders on the stock market. The startup participated in the recent Startup Battlefield at TechCrunch Disrupt SF. There are plenty of brokers that let you buy and sell shares using a mobile app and a web interface. But if you want to access more sophisticated tools and automate strategies, there’s not much you can do.

StrattyX wants to open up automated trading software to anyone, from non-professional traders who have some savings to professional day traders. The startup focuses on this specific part of the process.

It doesn’t try to reinvent the wheel and it doesn’t want to become an online stock broker. Instead, the company integrates with existing brokers, such as Robinhood, TD Ameritrade and many others as

long as they support trading via an API. It acts as an interface and executes orders on your behalf.

You can create rules based on multiple different factors. In addition to traditional stop-loss and stoplimit orders, you can say that you want to buy or sell shares if something happens on Twitter, in the news or on the stock market.

Here are a few examples of rules you can create: • If @realdonaldtrump tweets something that contains “China” or “tariff,” sell Apple shares.

• If the value of EUR drops by 2% against USD, buy LVMH shares.

• If news headline contains “Tesla delays deliveries,” sell Tesla shares.

Interestingly, StrattyX will provide a marketplace of strategies. If a star investor starts using StrattyX to

46  October 2019  Black Business News  www.bbala.org  1-323-291-7819

November 7 - 10, 2019 Oakland, California AfroTech: https://experience.afrotech.com Register: https://e.sparxo.com/Afrotech19 Partner: https://experience.afrotech.com/partner Tracks: Leadership, Entrepreneurship, Engineering & Design The groundbreaking, revolutionary experience for Black techies, startups and entrepreneurs returns! Come join 6000+ of your fellow founders, entrepreneurs and engineers for a 360-degree look at how culture, innovation and tech run the world. Collectively, we can scale our collective power in culture, innovation and tech. Buy your tickets today!

Together we have the power to drive innovation, redefine how we do business, and create our own future. define a set of automated rules, other users could follow the same strategy.

StrattyX then wants to go one step further by giving you the tools to train a model using machine l e a r n i n g and usergenerated data sets. You could imagine a feature that lets you upload a .csv file with price history and different types of data points, such as SEC filings, earnings, etc.

The company is also working on a feature that would show you news headlines that you’d rate with a Tinderstyle swipe gesture — swipe right if you think it’s good news, swipe left if you think it’s bad news.

StrattyX is launching its mobile app today (October 3rd). It’s a sort of minimum viable product for now — some features are still in beta. The company is also working on a desktop version that would be useful for professional traders in particular.

StrattyX initially costs $5 per month per user, with more expensive plans for bigger teams and whether you execute a lot of orders through the product. The startup is looking to raise a seed round in the coming months.  View the presentation video when you follow the link below. https://techcrunch.com/2019/10/03/strattyx-lets-you-buyand-sell-shares-using-automated-rules/

47  October 2019  Black Business News  www.bbala.org  1-323-291-7819

Angus Robert

The Future of Food: 3D Printing, Vertical Farming & Materials Science (Part 1)

By Peter Diamandis

F

ood… What we eat, and how we grow it, will be fundamentally transformed in the next decade.

Already, vertical farming is projected to exceed a US$12 billion industry by mid-decade, surging at an astonishing 25% annual growth rate.

Meanwhile, the food 3D printing industry is expected to grow at an even higher rate, averaging nearly 40% annual growth.

And converging exponential technologies—from materials science to AI-driven digital agriculture—are not slowing down. Today’s breakthroughs will soon allow our planet to boost its food production by nearly 70%, using a fraction of the real estate and resources, to feed 9 billion by mid-century.

What you consume, how it was grown, and how it will end up in your stomach will all ride the wave of converging exponentials, revolutionizing the most basic of human needs.

Printing Food 3D printing has already had a profound impact on the manufacturing sector. We are now able to print in hundreds of different materials, making anything from toys to houses to organs. However, we are finally seeing the emergence of 3D printers that can print food itself.

Redefine Meat, an Israeli startup, wants to tackle industrial meat production using 3D printers that can generate meat, no animals required. The printer takes in fat, water, and three different plant protein sources, using these ingredients to print a meat fiber matrix with trapped fat and water, thus mimicking the texture and flavor of real meat.

Slated for release in 2020 at a cost of $100,000, their machines are rapidly demonetizing and will begin by targeting clients in industrial-scale meat production.

Anrich3D aims to take this process a step further, 3D-printing meals that are customized to your medical records, heath data from your smart wearables, and patterns detected by your sleep trackers. The company plans to use multiple extruders for multi-material printing, allowing them to dispense each ingredient precisely for nutritionally optimized meals. Currently in an R&D

phase at the Nanyang Te c h n o l o g i c a l University in Singapore, the company hopes to have its first taste tests in 2020.

These are only a few of the many 3D food printing startups springing into existence. The benefits from such innovations are boundless.

Not only will food 3D printing grant consumers control over the ingredients and mixtures they consume, but it is already beginning to enable new innovations in flavor itself, democratizing far healthier meal options in newly customizable cuisine categories.

Vertical Farming Vertical farming, whereby food is grown in vertical stacks (in skyscrapers and buildings rather than outside in fields), marks a classic case of converging exponential technologies. Over just the past decade, the technology has surged from a handful of earlystage pilots to a full-grown industry.

Today, the average American meal travels 1,5002,500 miles to get to your plate. As summed up by Worldwatch Institute researcher Brian Halweil, “we are spending far more energy to get food to the table than the energy we get from eating the food.”

Additionally, the longer foods are out of the soil, the less nutritious they become, losing on average 45% of their nutrition before being consumed.

Yet beyond cutting down on time and transportation losses, vertical farming eliminates a whole host of issues in food production.

Relying on hydroponics and aeroponics, vertical farms allows us to grow crops with 90% less water than traditional agriculture—which is critical for our increasingly thirsty planet.

Currently, the largest player around is Bay Areabased Plenty Inc. With over $200 million in funding from Softbank, Plenty is taking a smart tech approach to indoor agriculture. Plants grow on 20-foot high towers, monitored by tens of thousands of cameras and sensors, optimized by big data and machine learning.

48  October 2019  Black Business News  www.bbala.org  1-323-291-7819

This allows the company to pack 40 plants in the space previously occupied by one. The process also produces yields 350X greater than outdoor farmland, using less than 1% as much water.

And rather than bespoke veggies for the wealthy few, Plenty’s processes allow them to knock 20-35% off the costs of traditional

Aerofarms WebUrbanist grocery stores. To date, Plenty has their home base in South San Francisco, a 100,000 square-foot farm in Kent, Washington, an indoor farm in the United Arab Emirates, and recently started construction on over 300 farms in China.

Another major player is New Jersey-based Aerofarms, which can now grow 2 million pounds of leafy greens without sunlight or soil.

To do this, Aerofarms leverages AI-controlled LEDs to provide optimized wavelengths of light for each individual plant. Using aeroponics, the company delivers nutrients by misting them directly onto the plants’ roots— no soil required. Rather, plants are suspended in a growth mesh fabric made from recycled water bottles. And here too, sensors, cameras and machine learning govern the entire process.

While 50-80% of the cost of vertical farming is human labor, autonomous robotics promises to solve that problem. Enter contenders like Iron Ox, a firm that has developed the Angus robot, capable of moving

around plant-growing containers.

The writing is on the wall, and traditional agriculture is fast being turned on its head. As explained by Plenty’s CEO Matt Barnard, “Just like Google benefitted from the simultaneous combination of improved technology, better algorithms and masses of data, we are seeing the same [in vertical farming].”

Materials Science In an era where materials science, nanotechnology, and biotechnology are rapidly becoming the same field of study, key advances are enabling us to create healthier, more nutritious, more efficient, and longerlasting food.

For starters, we are now able to boost the photosynthetic abilities of plants.

Using novel techniques to improve a micro-step in the photosynthesis process chain, researchers at UCLA were able to boost tobacco crop yield by 14-20%.

Meanwhile, the RIPE Project, backed by Bill Gates and run out of the University of Illinois, has matched and improved those numbers.

And to top things off, The University of Essex was even able to improve tobacco yield by 27-47% by increasing the levels of protein involved in photorespiration.

In yet another win for food-related materials science, Santa Barbara-based Apeel Sciences is further tackling the vexing challenge of food waste. Now approaching commercialization, Apeel uses lipids and glycerolipids found in the peels, seeds, and pulps of all fruits and vegetables to create “cutin”—the fatty substance that composes the skin of fruits and prevents them from rapidly spoiling by trapping moisture.

By then spraying fruits with this generated substance, Apeel can preserve foods 60% longer, using an odorless, tasteless, colorless organic substance.

And stores across the U.S. are already using this method. By leveraging our advancing knowledge of plants and chemistry, materials science is allowing us to produce more food with far longer-lasting freshness and more nutritious value than ever before.

Convergence With advances in 3D printing, vertical farming and materials sciences, we can now make food smarter, more productive, and far more resilient.

By the end of the next decade, you should be able to 3D print a fusion cuisine dish from the comfort of your home, using ingredients harvested from vertical farms, with nutritional value optimized by AI and materials science. However, even this picture doesn’t account for all the rapid changes underway in the food industry. 

49  October 2019  Black Business News  www.bbala.org  1-323-291-7819

www.diamandis.com

Business - Wi-Fi 6

How to Show Up Ready to Perform at Your Best Each Day

By Sonia Thompson to grand slams, she's won 23 over the course of her illustrious career. But she's lost six of her last seven grand slam finals appearances.

When speaking about her latest loss at the US Open, Williams noted, "I honestly didn't play my best today. I could have played better...I honestly don't think Serena showed up. I have to kind of figure out how to get her to show up in grand slam finals."

If you struggle at times to get the best version of yourself to show up each day, try implementing these three steps.

1. Acknowledge your weak points.

A

s you work to build and grow your business, there are often many obstacles and challenges that stand in your way. For many of us, the biggest obstacle we have to overcome in our quest to reach our business goals stares back at us as we look in the mirror each day: ourselves.

Whether it's procrastination, low self-awareness, lack of consistency, poor productivity, self-limiting beliefs, or something else, there are a number of internal struggles we can all fall prey to, that can keep us from showing up and performing at our best.

This challenge doesn't just plague business owners.

It is a battle anyone trying to perform at a high-level has to fight.

Recently Serena Williams played in the US Open Finals. She lost in straight sets. Williams is no stranger

You've got to name your kryptonite. Only then will you be able to figure out how to combat against it.

Spend some time thinking about the activities you find yourself doing that may make you feel like, you're being productive, but are really just busywork that isn't actually helping you make any meaningful progress forward.

I've noticed that my weak points are social media, reading email newsletters, and cleaning up my email.

Doing these activities make me feel like I'm getting work done, but in most instances, they have been masks that have prevented me from doing the real work needed to help me perform at my best.

When I notice I'm spending a ton of time on these tasks, I've learned to recognize that means I'm just procrastinating.

2. Uncover the root cause.

Peel back the layers to understand what is at the source of you operating in a manner that doesn't serve you. Whether its shame, fear of success, fear of failure, fear of stepping out of your comfort zone or something else, you've got to address the problem at its source, so you can overcome it once and for all.

Soon after I started my business, I spent weeks procrastinating by watching every episode of Sex and the City. One of my girlfriends found out and called me out on it. When I took the time to dig into what was fueling my behavior, I realized I was afraid. Once I

50  October 2019  Black Business News  www.bbala.org  1-323-291-7819

stared my fear in the face, I was able to move forward and get to work.

As I look back at times when I've struggled the most with showing up at my best, it's been during transitional points in my career and business. Armed with that information, I can better guard against it.

3. Put systems in place.

Trick yourself if you need to, but set yourself up for success by making it as unlikely as possible that you don't show up.

For me, that means accountability. External deadlines, having to report on progress to peers, or working with a team that is counting on me to show up with my part done on time are ways that I've found work to keep me on task.

For some that comes by performing rituals daily that signal to their brain, it's time to get into a certain zone. In The Mundanity of Excellence, researcher Dan Chambliss explored what separated Olympic swimmers from everyone else. One of his key findings was that the Olympians approached each practice and each swim-meet with the same attitude and work

ethic. In essence, they formed the mental and physical habits and rituals that allowed them to get into optimal performance-mode with ease every time they showed up to perform a task, whether it be lifting weights, swimming practice laps, or performing in the Olympics.

Experiment as needed to find what works best for you. The key is to not rely on your willpower or your emotions, as they often prove to be faulty sources of support.

You have too much to offer to squander your time and potential by not performing at your best. If you find yourself more often than you'd like struggling to achieve your goals or make meaningful progress, pause and take time to figure out how to overcome any mental struggles that stand in your way, so you can overcome them once and for all..  www.inc.com/sonia-thompson/how-to-showup-ready-to-perform-at-your-best-each-day. html?utm_medium=40digest.7days3.20191017. carousel&utm_source=email&utm_content=&utm_ campaign=campaignImage credits: voice-online.co.uk

Coming Soon: Your 2019 Holiday Shopping Guide 51  October 2019  Black Business News  www.bbala.org  1-323-291-7819

Image credit: Vogue

Business - More Tech Tools

LinkedIn Launches Enhanced Targeting Tools: Just The Facts

By Charlene Sterphone

O

n October 1, LinkedIn ( w w w. l i n k e d i n . c o m )

announced the release of new tools to enable marketers to better target and understand results of their paid advertising campaigns: more robust audience forecasting, Boolean logic and enhanced demographic reporting capabilities.

What Updates Were Made To LinkedIn’s Audience Forecasting Tools?

LinkedIn introduced a new “segment breakdown” feature to its forecasted results tab. Segment breakdown options include function, seniority, years of experience, company size, industry and interests. Instead of a

How Can LinkedIn’s New Boolean Logic Be Used To Target Ads? LinkedIn’s addition of Boolean logic (using “and/ or” queries) enables marketers to expand or refine their targeting by combining common profile elements like job function, seniority and industries into a single campaign.

LinkedIn produced a video (www.youtube.com/ watch?v=4CREYl-vBdY&feature=youtu.be) explaining how “or” queries can be used to expand audiences, for example by targeting LinkedIn users with “engineering” in their job titles or with “engineering” in their list of skills. “And” queries, meanwhile, can be used to further narrow an audience, for example by targeting LinkedIn users with “engineering” in their job titles who also have five or more years of experience.

What New Demographic Reporting Capabilities Are Available On LinkedIn? Previously, LinkedIn offered demographic reporting, including job titles, companies, seniority and industries, on audiences that clicked on or converted on LinkedIn ads. With the new demographic reporting enhancement, LinkedIn now provides demographic information on audiences interacting with other types of content including watching video ads, filling out LinkedIn’s Lead Gen forms and opening sponsored InMail messages. general overview of the projected audience size, as LinkedIn offered previously, marketers are now able to view estimates of their target audience breakdowns directly via the dashboard as they are creating ads.

https://insights.digitalmediasolutions.com/analytics/linkedinenhanced-targeting?utm_campaign=Your%20Weekly%20 Mojo%20-%20Newsletter&utm_source=hs_email&utm_ medium=email&utm_content=78235856&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-9ezq5 kK5RIX6632IpLWvOkdEjZZ8IDpGAWBD0jQusyhclbPt5DFj3d7lp0 5vOAEC3zLbT9QLqckVRsJJwWdgCuD5jwZg&_hsmi=78235292

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

Business - Gig Economy

3 Factors That Will Determine the Success of Your Side Hustle

By Rhett Power

T

he side gig is gaining in popularity, especially as prominent side hustle success stories become the stuff of legend. Social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter all started as side projects, as did billion-dollar companies Slack and WeWork. It's enough to get anyone's hopes up about the career possibilities.

Despite the fact that the gig economy is often branded as the new American dream -- allowing for schedule flexibility, self-management, and the opportunity to choose your own clients -- the reality is that many people are side hustling because they need an extra source of income. According to Bankrate's Side Hustle Survey (www.bankrate.com/ personal-finance/ side-hustles-surveyjune-2019), 43% of

full-time American employees work a side hustle, and three in 10 of those gig workers are doing it to supplement their income and cover regular living costs.

To make sure your side hustle helps you reach your financial goals, it's important to consider the scope and objective of that extra work. That could be paying off student loans, saving for a down payment, or earning extra cash for a shopping spree. As you set out on this new journey, follow these three steps to ensure your side hustle will serve its intended purpose for as long as you want it to.

1. Be intentional, not accidental.

When starting a side hustle, you generally get to decide whether you'll shoot for immediate income in the short term or build a scalable business over the

long haul. If you're just looking to pay down some debt, the former might be a better option. If you want to create more income down the road, you should consider a scalable option. Starting a side hustle as a tutor is an example of generating immediate income, whereas teaching educators to start their own side hustles as tutors would be scalable long-term.

According to Jim Wang, founder of WalletHacks. com, entrepreneurs shouldn't be afraid to make a choice based on their current financial needs: "Don't feel like you're short-changing yourself by starting a good side hustle today because you need the cash, well, today." He points out that being intentional about your immediate needs will help you meet them quickly. If you need fast cash for an upcoming vacation or have a lot of debt to pay down, you may not be in the position to found a startup just yet.

2. Wield connections wisely.

When you're looking for your first customers, rely on customer relationship management technology to organize your Insurance Journal connections. A little bit of professional efficiency will go a long way when you're asking your mom, your co-worker, or your neighbor for help finding buyers of your product or service. "Even before you have customers, a CRM can help you leverage your personal and professional networks to verify your ideas, find mentors and cheerleaders, and generate your first few leads and referrals," advises Alex Haimann, partner and head of business development at Less Annoying CRM.

56  October 2019  Black Business News  www.bbala.org  1-323-291-7819

Business - Finance/Bitcoin

Bitcoin and Black America, the Book

By Isaisah Jackson

R

eady for a change in black economics? Join the Bitcoin revolution.

Bitcoin and Black America is a dynamic new book that explores the synergy between black economics, Bitcoin and blockchain technology.

The global financial system is changing and the digital revolution will not be televised.

Since 2009, the creation of Bitcoin has spawned a new wave of innovation, much like the Internet in the 90s. The black community can not sit on the sidelines this time around and miss maybe the biggest transfer of wealth in human history.

We explore how to incorporate cryptocurrency in your business, job and educational institution. This book also outlines the need for

Starting a successful side hustle requires you to perform a sales role that you may or may not be familiar with. A CRM can help you keep track of communications with a large number of leads, reminding you when to follow up and when to reestablish a connection. It's a valuable tool for staying on track, whether you're at day one or decade one of a side hustle. If your side gig is more temporary, a CRM will be useful for notifying your clients of business changes or catching up with them if you return to the project in the future.

3. Know when your side gig needs your full attention.

Many people starting a side hustle struggle to get it off the ground.

A shortage of customers or an inability to market effectively makes it hard to find regular work, and a small runway disappears before the liftoff. If, on the other hand, your challenge becomes more about keeping up with a massive demand, it might be time to transition your side hustle into your full-time job.

According to a SunTrust survey, 81% of side hustlers want to take their gigs full-time.

If you do move your hustle from side to center court, don't go it alone.

You can't possibly get everything done on your own, and a surge in demand can actually extinguish your progress if you can't keep up and satisfy your customers. Hire an employee (or two) and learn to

separation from the racist banking system and a comprehensive list of black professionals actively working in the Blockchain industry.  https://bitcoinandblackamerica.com www.amazon.com/dp/1079178090/ ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_ MVMDDbDHZ7GHA Image credit: Earn.om

delegate. Having the right team will eventually allow you to work on your business and not in it; maybe you'll even have the chance to start on a second side project if you're so inclined.

Side hustles often start out of necessity. When you're working fulltime but you believe in something enough to invest your precious free time in it, it's crucial to figure out how to make it work for you. Follow the above steps to see success with your side hustle.  www.inc.com/rhett-power/3-factorsthat-will-determine-successof-your-side-hustle.html?utm_ medium=40digest.7days3.20191003. carousel&utm_source=email&utm_ content=&utm_campaign=campaign

57  October 2019  Black Business News  www.bbala.org  1-323-291-7819

Business - Technology / Take A Look!

Technology:

Take A Look!

Businesses can Access IBM's Quantum Computer

T

his gleaming monolith from a sci-fi blockbuster is actually the new IBM Q System One quantum computer that is designed to be reliable enough for businesses to use—in the cloud.

The news: At the week Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, IBM took the wraps off the Q System One, which it claims is the world’s first integrated universal quantum computing system for commercial applications. Companies won’t be able to run out and buy the machines, though—they’re only accessible via IBM’s computing cloud.

All-in-one: The Q System One is a single, tightly integrated system enclosed in an airtight case nine feet (2.7 meters) tall.

Snowflake qubits: Quantum computers promise to one day exceed the performance of even the most advanced supercomputers. Their power comes from harnessing quantum bits, or qubits.

But qubits are particularly delicate. Even the tiniest vibrations or electrical fluctuations can collapse their extremely fragile quantum state. That’s a big drawback for running commercial applications, which demand reliable performance. To get around this issue, the Q System One is encased in half-inch-thick borosilicate

glass to minimize any external disturbances. The system also uses a combination of metal supports to keep the cooling chamber, electronics, and casing separate.

Design hype: Plenty of other quantum computing companies, including the US’s Rigetti Computing and Canada’s D-Wave, already offer access to quantum machines via the cloud. Indeed, IBM itself kicked off this trend when it launched an online platform several years ago (www.technologyreview.com/s/610250/seriousquantum-computers-are-finally-here-what-are-we-going-todo-with-them).

In 2016 IBM connected a small quantum computer to the cloud. Using a programming tool kit called QISKit (https://qiskit.org), you can run simple programs on it; thousands of people, from academic researchers to schoolkids, have built QISKit programs that run basic quantum algorithms.  www.technologyreview.com/f/612727/ibm-has-unveiled-asuper-cool-quantum-computer-that-youll-never-get-to-see /

Plowz & Mowz

P

lowz & Mowz (www.plowzandmowz.com) offers an Uber-style landscape and care service for homeowners and property owners. For Black Business News readers this organization also offers a "partnership" for entrepreneurs in the outdoor care business. Want to grow your service business, visit this website.

For property owners, download the free app to book and manage landscaping services anytime, anywhere.

For business owners, get access to more jobs in your area. Pad out your current route or run your entire business with us. Pick up or pass on jobs based upon

your need. With our service offerings, we have more jobs coming in every day.

No more sending out invoices, tracking them down, or waiting until the end of the season to get paid. Once you complete a job, it gets submitted for payment- you can expect to be paid within 1-2 business days.

Plowz & Mowz eliminates home interviews and the cost of marketing your services. No bidding, no haggling, no headaches.

All partners are required to have the following in order to join the team: • An iPhone or Android Phone • A minimum of $1,000,000 in General Liability

58  October 2019  Black Business News  www.bbala.org  1-323-291-7819

Insurance • Professional Grade equipment  www.plowzandmowz.com

Am I Hungry?® Virtual Coach

T

he Am I Hungry?® Mindful Eating Virtual Coach was designed to help you end futile restrictive dieting and resolve mindless and emotional eating.

Designed and developed by founder Michelle May, M.D., this app will guide you through the Am I Hungry?

Mindful Eating Cycle. It is a powerful tool for making more mindful decisions so you are in charge of every decision without having to resort to rules and restrictions.

Whenever you feel like eating, simply click “I want to eat” and the app will guide you through the process step by step.”  https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com. amihungry.virtualcoach.com

myNoise: a white noise machine in a App

T

he idea behind myNoise (https://mynoise.net) is to use the noises you most enjoy to mask the noises you don’t want to hear: chatty colleagues, your tinnitus, or even your inner voice when you can't shut it down! The concept is simple, works extremely well, and doesn’t require expensive noisecancelling headphones.

Thanks to its sound quality and unique audio engineering, myNoise sets the standard among online background noise machines.

The Ultimate Noise (Masking) Machine Noise machines can be used by all audiences in a variety of ways throughout our daily lives; whether you're trying to work, study, relax, or even sleep.

The idea behind myNoise is to use noises you enjoy most to mask the noises you don’t want to hear. The concept is simple, works extremely well, and doesn’t require expensive active noise cancelling headphones. myNoise further introduces the concept of frequencyshaped noises, focusing on the frequencies one wants to effectively block. This ensures a higher efficiency, and quieter masking levels.

Candy for your ears...

Listening to myNoise noise generators in a quiet environment makes sense too, and is even recommended to enjoy their optimal sound quality. https://mynoise.net

iROKOtv App

i

rokotv is a web platform that provides paid-for Nigerian films on-demand. It is one of Africa's first mainstream online movie streaming websites, giving instant access to over 5,000 Nollywood film titles. irokotv is a part of iROKO P a r t n e r s which is one of Africa's leading entertainment companies, h o u s i n g brands such as iROKING, an online music platform and its YouTube website, Nollywoodlove.

Access the world's best Nollywood movies & TV series: Thousands of Nigerian & Ghanaian films.

Watch your favorite movies and TV shows offline. Keep movies on your device and watch them anytime without using additional data!

Read more on page 103.  https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com. irokotv&hl=en www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/irokotv/9nblggh0823f?a ctivetab=pivot:overviewtab https://apps.apple.com/us/app/irokotv/id546644351

Curatted by LaSandra Stratton, Chief Content Administrator of the Black Business News.

59  October 2019  Black Business News  www.bbala.org  1-323-291-7819

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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60  October 2019  Black Business News  www.bbala.org  1-323-291-7819

Commentary

Homage to Fannie Lou Hamer: Womanist, Warrior and WayOpener

By Dr. Maulana Karenga

T

his is a profoundly respectful reremembering and raising up, an offering of word and water in tambiko, sacred offering, to a most honored ancestor. Mrs. Fannie Lou Hamer (October 6, 1917 - March 14, 1977) is one of those awesome ancestors about whom it is said: They were so tall when they stood up, they were the height of mountains and when they lay down, they were the length of rivers. And so we raise our hands and bow our heads in homage to this wonder of an African woman, this womanist, warrior and wayopener, in this month of her cominginto being to bring a great good in the world. And let us pour libation, practicing the morality of remembrance she taught us, saying, “There are two things we all should care about— never to forget where we came from and always praise the bridges that carried us over.” And so, we build lasting monuments for her in stone and metal, but always in the persistent way we lift up her legacy of righteous and relentless struggle and rightfully embrace it as our own. And we do this in the most meaningful way by living the legacy and lessons of life and struggle which she left us.

She was indeed a womanist in the fullest sense of the word, deeply committed to the spiritual and ethical teachings and practices of her people, culture and faith which affirm and defend the dignity, rights, equality and indispensability of women in all things of importance in the world. She was a warrior woman, a freedom fighter, who even wounded, would not abandon the battlefield until the war was won. And she was a way-opener who prayed for a way and then opened it in practice, the practice of hard work and heroic struggle. Thus, she prayed, “O Lord, open a way for us. Please make a way for us . . . , where I can stand up and speak for my race and speak for my hungry children.” And then she stood up and stepped forward to speak truth to power and to speak truth to the people, and to serve the people, pursue justice, and uphold right everywhere.

Deeply spiritual, she strove daily to lift up what she called “this little light of mine,” and worked tirelessly to drive away the long night of the evil, injustice and social savagery which surrounded and oppressed her people. At an early age, she made a vow to her mother

saying, “When I get my chance, Mama, I’m sure going to do something to right this wrong.” Later, she would reaffirm this commitment and call on Dr. Maulana Karenga us to embrace it also, telling us, “We must bring right and justice where there is wrong and injustice.”

And speaking especially to her sisters in community, she reiterated the call saying, “We have a job as Black women—to support whatever is right and to bring justice where we’ve had so much injustice.”

For her, struggle was a way of life and living, a way to serve the people and open a way to freedom, justice and an expanded sense of our humanity. Indeed,

62  October 2019  Black Business News  www.bbala.org  1-323-291-7819

she said “You’ve got to fight. Every step of the way you’ve got to fight.” When asked why she did not just leave Mississippi and the murderous madness it represented, she replied: “Why should I leave . . .

I got problems (here). I want to change Mississippi.

You don’t run away from problems. You just face them,” i.e., confront and resolve them.

Mrs. Hamer clearly took a womanist position on the indispensability of partnership between Black women and men in life, love and struggle. She anticipated the growing rift between many Black men and women which began in the 70s. And she was deeply concerned about the damage it would do, not only to the struggle, but also to Black women and men themselves as well as to the Black family. Therefore, speaking to a group of Black middle class women, she urged them not to separate themselves from each other, Black men or the struggle. For she said, “Whether you have a Ph.D., dd or no d, we’re in this bag together.” And the need is “not to fight to liberate ourselves from the men—this is another trick to get us fighting among ourselves—but to work together with Black men. And then we will have a better chance to act as human beings and to be treated as human beings in our sick society.” Reaffirming this position, she stated “I’m not fighting to liberate myself from the Black man . . . I got a husband . . . that I don’t’

want to be liberated from. But we are here to work side by side with this Black man in trying to bring liberation to all people.”

A way-opener for her people, she spoke of how she felt responsible for the lives and self-conception of so many, especially our children. She said, “I’m not actually living for myself. If I left (from Mississippi and the battlefield), there’d be so many children who’d have no way of knowing that life doesn’t have to be a tragedy because they’re Black.”

Moreover, she offered criticism of the Vietnam War that retains its relevance for the announced wars waged in Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya and the numerous proxy and unannounced wars in Haiti, Palestine and elsewhere. First, she criticized the racist hypocrites who talked about war as a way of “helping to have free elections in Vietnam and we can’t even vote here at home.” She said, “It’s wrong to fight (in such a war). I don’t just say this for the Black man. I just don’t think anybody with any decency should go to a racist war like that,” especially when they don’t know what’s really going on and the toll it takes in lives and resources better spent at home and elsewhere.

Strengthened by a faith that would never fail, she went forth fearless from the beginning. She said she first thought that maybe she should be afraid given the savagery she had seen and the brutality she knew awaited her and others in their quest for freedom. But then she thought “What’s the point in being scared . . . the only thing they can do is kill me, and it seems like they had been trying to do that a little bit at a time ever since I could remember.”

Since the summer of ’62 when she first stood up to answer the call of SNCC workers to register and work to involve the masses of her people, she had stood steadfast and fearless. Even when she was beaten into bad health for the rest of her life and suffered from a damaged liver and diminished sight, she would not sit down. She, indeed, gave her life so that we could live freer and fuller ones.

One day I know the struggle will (bring) change,” she said. “There’s got to be change not only for Mississippi (and) for the people of the U.S., but (also for) people all over the world.” And we, Black people, Native Americans, Latinos, Asians and Whites, she said, must struggle together to achieve it and bring a new world, a new history, and a new way of being human into being.  www.us-organization.org/position/documents/ HomagetoFannieLouHamer10-03-19.pdfImage credits: nbcnews.com.

Image credits: AFROPUNK

63  October 2019  Black Business News  www.bbala.org  1-323-291-7819

Commentary - Challenge of Violence

October 2019

To His Wealthy Donors, Trump is Their Grifter

T

o decipher President Donald Trump’s presidency, apply the basic rule of politics: Follow the money.

Last month, for example, Trump performed at rallies in North Carolina and in New Mexico. He entertained adoring crowds, clad in Trump’s MAGA caps and T-shirts.

The rallies got featured on Fox and other news stations.

Then Trump flew to California and went to a series of big-dollar

fundraisers that were closed to the public, pocketing what his campaign boasted as more than $15 million in campaign funding, largely from anonymous wealthy donors.

This is only a small part of the record campaign war chest that the wealthy are building for Trump’s reelection campaign.

The press treats the overwhelmingly white, working class audiences at Trump’s rallies as his “base.” But they are more

his marks than his base. The anonymous wealthy donors in California have a far better claim to be the base that he serves.

The donors got the tax cuts; the working people at his rallies got health care cuts. The CEOs got the roll-back of clean water and clean air regulations; his rally audiences got the fouled water and more kids with emphysema.

Big oil and coal executives got lavish public subsidies; teachers

66  October 2019  Black Business News  www.bbala.org  1-323-291-7819

and parents got cuts in school funding. Big Agra got billions in payoffs to make up for Trump’s trade war; family farmers were casualties, many bankrupted by the loss of markets, with Wisconsin’s small farmers suffering the worst.

Auto executives enjoyed record profits; auto workers suffered more layoffs and plant closings. The rich saw their wealth soar; working people faced rising prices in housing, health care, college, cars — with incomes that didn’t keep up.

Trump brags on the record-low unemployment numbers, but the jobs too often don’t pay a living

wage and Trump and Republicans won’t even allow a vote on raising the minimum wage.

Not surprisingly, workers are beginning to protest.

GM autoworkers are involved in the largest strike in years.

Teachers in red states across the country have gone on strike to demand greater investment in schools. Nurses are on strike for decent wages and better staffing of hospitals and clinics.

Fast food and restaurant workers have led marches for a $15 minimum wage and a union.

Young people are marching to

protest Trump’s refusal to address the clear and present threat posed by catastrophic climate change.

Trump regales the crowds at his rallies with scurrilous attacks on his opponents, lies and tales about his accomplishments, and boasts about the economy. He panders to their fears, fanning racial division, railing against immigrants and Muslims and the homeless.

He’s pugnacious, funny and outrageous. They know he’s a bad guy, but they think he’s their bad guy. And that is the con.

The anonymous donors who are contributing record amounts to Trump’s campaign don’t wear MAGA hats. They don’t go to public rallies.

They roll their eyes at Trump’s rambling rants and racial taunts.

They aren’t on strike or in the streets. They are getting a great return on their investment and are happy to ante up again.

The Trump economy doesn’t work for most Americans, but it works for them. Trump keeps his promises — and his payoffs — to them.

They know Trump is a grifter, but he’s their grifter. They are all in on the con.  www.rainbowpush.org Image credits: Sputnik, milwaukeeindependent.com

67  October 2019  Black Business News  www.bbala.org  1-323-291-7819

National Voter Registration Campaign

S

eptember 24th was National Voter Registration Day, so there’s no better time to ensure you’re registered to vote and mobilize your networks to do the same. We all have the power to make a difference in 2020, but the work has to begin now.

Next year is going to be a game-changing year for the Black community and we are shaping a new culture of voting by bringing the Black community together as a potent political force. Hundreds of elected officials, activists, and public figures have already joined our campaign, including Actor, Director and Activist, Larenz Tate.

Supporters like you are critical to helping us maintain our momentum on the ground.

We’re asking you to use your power to mobilize at least five African Americans to vote and participate in the Census in 2020.

We’re counting on you to be an advocate for democracy and social change. You have the power, claim it! Visit our website to mobilize your five people today - https://naacp.org/ mobilize-your-five.

Fighting forward, Derrick Johnson @DerrickNAACP President & CEO NAACP

68  October 2019  Black Business News  www.bbala.org  1-323-291-7819

FOR

Halloween

OR ANY SPECIAL OCCASION

Community/Public Interest - Fellowship

Oprah Winfrey is Looking for African Women who are Passionate about Public Service

By Lerato Mogoatlhe

T

he Oprah Winfrey Foundation is offering fully funded scholarships to study at New York University.

Oprah Winfrey is once again lending her name and influence to help educate and empower more African women.

The mogul — who is fondly known as Mama Oprah in South Africa — announced that the Oprah Winfrey Foundation has launched a fully-funded fellowship aimed at empowering African women who are in public service.

It offers women from African countries the chance to study for free at New York University’s (NYU’s) Wagner Graduate School of Public Service — in the hope of supporting Africa-led solutions to some of the world’s most pressing issues.

The African Women’s Public Service Fellowship — a partnership between Winfrey and NYU — will provide full tuition, fees, housing, travel to and from the United States, and a stipend to cover books and other expenses.

The aim of the fellowship is to “expand the opportunity for African women” who want to change public service in their countries,according to the New York University (NYU).

The opportunity isn’t open, however, to applicants who are looking to fund advanced professional certificates and non-degree programmes, NYU highlights.

To qualify, applicants must also be a citizen and resident in an African country; have a strong academic record; and a proven commitment to public service in their country or around the continent.

The fellowship is applicable to study on these programmes at Wagner: Masters of PublicAdministration (MPA) in Public & Nonprofit Management & Policy; MPS in Health Policy & Management; Master of

Urban Planning, and Executive Master of Public Administration (EMPA) for Public Service Leaders.

Recipients of the fellowship also must commit to returning to their home countries when the programme ends, with the goal of taking on a leadership position in Africa — where they can “meaningfully contribute to the challenges currently confronting Africa,” the university says.

To apply for the opportunity, applicants must send an essay, a one-minute submission video, and fill out this online application form (https://apply.wagner.nyu.edu/ apply/) by Dec. 2.

Candidates who make the shortlist will be invited to Skype interviews with the selection committee by midFebruary 2020.

The fellowship joins many other education initiatives supported by the Oprah Winfrey Foundation.

Speaking at the Global Citizen Festival: Mandela 100 event that was held in Johannesburg in Dec. 2018, Winfrey said society can change if we all play our part, no matter how small, in helping others.

“I always thought it was because Madiba was a citizen of the world that he really got to see how the power of one leads to the empowering of many," she said. "He knew when a society is wounded, we all bleed.”

She added: “As Maya Angelou taught me: Your legacy isn’t some big grand gesture that’s waiting to happen, your legacy is every life you touch... I built a school right here in South Africa to help girls become leaders of a new South Africa. Every time one of them succeeds, it is my greatest reward.”  https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/oprah-winfrey-foundationafrican-women-fellowship/

72  October 2019  Black Business News  www.bbala.org  1-323-291-7819

Image credit: blogspot.com

Community/Public Interest - Fellowship

Georgia's pre-K teacher of the year is the first black man to win the award

By Lauren M. Johnson Verified account Jonathon Hines (second from the right) is the first black man to win Georgia's pre-K teacher of the year award. © DeKalb Schools, GA

I

t's a big accomplishment to be named the state teacher of the year for your grade, but even bigger when you're the first black male to ever hold the title.

Jonathon Hines, a pre-K teacher at Barack Obama Elementary School in Atlanta, told CNN winning Georgia's Pre-K Program Teacher of the Year award for public schools is an amazing feeling and "one of the greatest milestones of [his] life." He said he is humbled knowing how many other great teachers are in his state.

As far as being the first black male pre-K teacher of the year, he hopes the opportunity inspires other men to get inside the classroom and make a difference, and not just leave it to coaches.

He didn't start out wanting to teach pre-K Hines didn't mean to become a pre-K teacher, but after spending two years in a classroom he fell in love with the impact a teacher can make during a child's first year of school.

The college basketball player came back from playing overseas wanting to coach high school or middle school basketball. However, he didn't end up hanging out with teenagers. To get into the school system Hines took a job as a pre-K paraprofessional.

Two years later, he shocked his principal when he

turned down a health and PE coach position to stay teaching the 4-year-olds.

"Pre-k is the most important grade to teach. There are no preconceived notions about school ... they are just curious about the world," he said. "I have the opportunity to make their first impression of school a lasting impression and instill a love for learning and a positive attitude."

Watching the children change and develop over the year is one of his favorite things, he said.

"I love the growth from August to May," he said, "They come in needy and leave independent. The growth is the most important thing to me."

Hines hopes to inspire other men in education Hines said he knows many men in education get into it for the same reason he did — to coach — but he hopes his story will inspire more men to get into elementary education.

"A man doesn't have to play pro sports to be successful, role models are in the classroom. It's okay to be a male in an elementary building," he said.

Hines said that he hopes to pass on his teaching strategies to other teaches and move the ball on encouraging kids to idolize their teachers like they idolize sports and entertainment figures.

He wouldn't rule out being the first teacher with a commercial or shoe deal to make it happen either.  www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/georgias-pre-k-teacherof-the-year-is-the-first-black-man-to-win-the-award/arAAItFua?ocid=spartandhp

73  October 2019  Black Business News  www.bbala.org  1-323-291-7819

Community/Public Interest - Health Issues

The Intersection of Race and Blood

By Rose George Blood can be racially or ethnically specific, so having more blood donors in certain groups can be crucial for saving the lives of patients who share their backgrounds.

“We need black blood.”

I didn’t know what to say to this, not least because it had been said by the head of donor services at England’s National Health Service Blood and Transplant. The interview was for a book I was writing on blood, a topic I knew a little about by then, but the baldness of his statement still shocked me. Surely we’re all the same under the skin?

I knew the history of race and blood was an ugly one. America’s earliest blood bank, founded in 1937 at Cook County Hospital in Chicago, noted race on donor forms and other blood banks followed suit. During World War II, African-American blood was labeled N for Negro (and some centers refused African-American donors outright) and given only to African-American soldiers. Writing to Eleanor Roosevelt, the chairman of the American Red Cross, Norman H. Davis, admitted that segregating blood was “a matter of tradition and sentiment rather than of science,” but didn’t stop doing it until 1950. Louisiana banned the segregation of blood only in 1972.

But the Red Cross was wrong: While no one is suggesting forced segregation of blood bags, it’s now scientifically established that blood can be racially or ethnically specific.

Most people know about the eight major blood groups: A, B, AB and O, each of which can be positive or negative (the Rh factor). These are determined by genes, and what group you are depends on what combination of proteins and sugars — antigens — are on the outside of your red blood cells. The International Society of Blood Transfusion lists 360 known antigens, but the combinations are infinitely more.

Many have no bearing on routine blood transfusion, though all were discovered because they caused a problem with compatibility.

A successful blood transfusion relies on sameness.

If incoming blood has an antigen that you lack, your

body can react badly to it. In extremely rare cases, the reaction can be fatal; and even if not, it can tax the immune system in people who are already weakened by their condition. Also, you will make an antibody, a sort of immune storm trooper, to better recognize the same antigen next time. Patients who need regular blood transfusions — those who have sickle cell disease, thalassemia or leukemia, for example — may face an ever decreasing pool of suitable blood because they keep creating antibodies.

Wouldn’t it be easier if all our blood was the same?

Blame bugs. Much of the variance “has been driven by evolutionary selection by bacteria, malaria and parasites,” says Connie Westhoff, executive scientific director at the National Center for Blood Group Genomics at the New York Blood Center. If malaria finds its way into the bloodstream via a particular antigen, that antigen may change to defend itself, leading to different blood types. Cholera thrives better on intestinal cells derived from O-type stem cells, but O is also more protective against malaria. For many complicated reasons, only 27% of Asians have type A, but 40% of Caucasians do. Type B is found more commonly in Asia than Europe.

This works not just with blood types. Sickle cell trait is now known to protect against malaria, which is why sickle cell, a painful and debilitating disease caused by malformed blood cells, is found frequently — but not only — in people with African heritage, because malaria thrives in Africa.

This past winter, the case of a little girl named Zainab Mughal in South Florida illustrated all this complexity perfectly. Zainab, who is now 3, has neuroblastoma,

74  October 2019  Black Business News  www.bbala.org  1-323-291-7819

an aggressive cancer, and her treatment — chemotherapy and stem cell transplants — means she will need blood.

But she also has rare blood.

She belongs to the fewer than 1% of the population missing an antigen that the other 99% have, making her blood some of the rarest in the world. In her case, she lacks both the antigens Indian B and Big E. Via appeals to the American Rare Donor Program, and then the International Rare Donor Panel in England, Zainab’s local blood banker, One Blood, found five donors with the same extremely rare type.

It was a tall order: the Indian B antigen is known to be lacking in the blood of Iranians, Pakistanis and Indians, so donors had to have both parents from these populations. Two donors live in the United States, two in Britain and one in Australia.

Most people, says Susan Forbes of One Blood, “don’t understand the need for a diverse blood supply.”

Publicity about Zainab’s case, though it was extreme in its rarity, helped raise awareness.

Yet it is a difficult message: that our blood is different, red and white cells both. When it comes to finding stem cells for bone marrow transplants, the search has to be equally discriminatory. This time the issue is HLA, the human leukocyte antigens present in white blood cells.

“The reason why ethnicity comes into the picture,” says Dr. Abeer Madbouly, a senior scientist at Be the Match, a program run by the National Marrow Donor Program, the largest stem cell donor registry in the world, “is that HLA encodes the immune system, and the immune system goes through particular conditions based on where you are.” Depending on the threat, each population will develop particular sets of HLA types.

In a diverse population like that of the United States, finding a matched donor becomes more challenging for a patient with a mixed ethnic background.

“Let’s say you have someone with African roots and someone from Asian descent coming together, and then they have an offspring of mixed ethnicities,” Dr. Madbouly said. “You have an African HLA and an HLA type common in Asian areas coming together to form a new type of HLA that is not common in either.”

Though Be the Match added nearly two million donors to its registry last year, only 30 percent were what Dr. Madbouly calls “diverse.” That’s not enough.

Zainab’s blood is rare, and so is her situation. What concerns blood bankers on a daily basis is a more common condition caused by uncommon blood.

Sickle cell disease is predominantly found in AfricanAmericans, and thalassemia among South Asians, and both conditions require precisely matched blood. But there is a shortfall between ethnic minority patients who need blood, and ethnic minority donors. In New York, Caucasians are 35% of the population but 58% of donors. Twenty-eight percent of New Yorkers are African-American but only 8% of the donors in New York are African-American, and that’s after five years of hard work and outreach by the New York Blood Center with its PreciseMatch campaign.

Even so, there was trouble when the Blood Center began in 2009 to offer the option to “self-declare” ethnicity on its donor forms. This was efficient: without a budget to precisely screen every donation, they could home in on antigens known to be specific to certain populations. At first there were problems, when staff members were initially upset by this apparent division of blood by ethnicity. “We didn’t educate the staff,” says Dr. Westhoff, “to know that we weren’t segregating the blood just to be segregating. We were doing it to send all the African-American units to the sickle program children because they were doing much better with blood that came from this same ethnic group.”

Of course disquiet was inevitable, given sensitivity about whether race is skin-deep and whether differences should be highlighted at all, if equality is ever to be reached. But the startling truth about blood is that acknowledging, seeking and celebrating its differences can tip the balance between life and death for people who need it.

Blood bankers are reluctant to talk about why some communities are keener to donate than others, but read some of the “myths about blood donation” that they regularly publish and a picture emerges: Blood donation doesn’t make you put on weight. Nor does it affect your sex drive (though you shouldn’t do vigorous exercise within 24 hours). It is not against Islamic law or tradition. One of the most common reasons people who don’t donate give is that no one has asked them.

Cases like Zainab’s help reach these populations: Many of the 25,000 people who emailed in wanting to help were first-time donors. But as Susan Forbes of One Blood says: “The goal is for them to make it a habit and come back, and help boost the blood supply wherever they live.”  www.nytimes.com/2019/05/14/well/live/blood-type-raceracial.html

75  October 2019  Black Business News  www.bbala.org  1-323-291-7819

Image credit: Keith Negley

Community/Public Interest - Opinion

The Authoritarian’s Worst Fear?

A Book

By Duncan White

Governments are spending a remarkable amount of resources attacking books — because their supposed limitations are beginning to look like ageless strengths.

The Black Business News has consistently devoted several pages in each issue to bring books written by African Americans and Africans to our readers awareness. The variety of topics, the style of presentation, the points of view of the writers are important to the maintenance of our cultural and political personality. Books preserve.

Books enlighten. Books sooth. Books entertain.

Books broaden our perspectives.

Please review the Books to Consider… section of the Black Business News to support our writers of all stripes.

A

round the world, many authoritarian regimes — having largely corralled the internet — now have declared war on the written word, their oldest enemy. The received wisdom after the close of the Cold War was that physical books were outdated, soon to be swept aside in the digital age; and that the internet was instead the real threat

to governments seeking to repress provocative thinking. A generation

later, the opposite may be true.

The People’s Republic of China has been the most successful in curbing the internet. But their stranglehold on society is also the result of their largely successful push in the past decade to ban nearly all

bookstores, books, authors and academics that do not adhere to the Communist Party’s line. Even before the current Hong Kong protests, there was a crackdown on Hong Kong publishers. In the fall of 2015, associates of the Causeway Bay Books store disappeared, later discovered to have been detained on the mainland, accused of trafficking in “illegal” books critiquing leading members of the Communist Party. In 2017, the Communist Party formally took control of all print media, including books.

They are, of course, far from alone. Wherever authoritarian regimes are growing in strength, from Brazil, to Hungary, to the Philippines, literature that expresses any kind of political opposition is under a unique, renewed threat. Books that challenge normative values, especially those with L.G.B.T.

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themes, have been hit especially hard. History textbooks crafted by independent scholars are being replaced with those produced by the state at a disturbing rate. In Russia, a new even stricter set of censorship laws was announced in March to punish those expressing “clear disrespect” for the state (i.e. effectively Putin himself).

Last month, the Turkish strongman Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s education minister Ziya Selcuk revealed — proudly — that 301,878 books had been taken out of schools and libraries and destroyed. All these books were purportedly connected to Fethullah Gulen, the cleric blamed for the failed coup attempt against Erdogan’s government in 2016. Since the coup, a report by English PEN found that several periodicals and 30 publishing houses had been shut down and that 80 authors have been prosecuted or criminally investigated.

The list around the globe goes on. In Egypt, the regime of Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has imprisoned independent writers, raided bookstores and forced libraries to close. At the extreme end of the scale, ISIS notoriously burned over 100,000 rare books and manuscripts housed in the Mosul Public Library, some dating back a millennium.

Regimes are expending so much energy attacking books because their supposed limitations have begun to look like strengths: With online surveillance, digital reading carries with it great risks and semi-permanent footprints; a physical book, however, cannot monitor what you are reading and when, cannot track which words you mark or highlight, does not secretly scan your face, and cannot know when you are sharing it with others.

There is an intimacy to reading, a place created in which we can imagine the experiences of others and experiment with new ideas, all within the safety and privacy of our imaginations. Research has proved that reading a printed book, rather than on a screen, generates more engagement, especially among young people. Books make us empathetic, skeptical, even seditious. It’s only logical then that totalitarian regimes have made their destruction such a visible priority.

George Orwell knew this well: the great crime that tempts Winston in “1984” is the reading of a banned book.

The United States used to stand up against this erasure of intellectual freedom. When America entered the Second World War, verbal attacks on Nazi book burning were a central plank in the Office of War

Information’s propaganda strategy. “No man and no force can take from the world the books that embody man’s eternal fight against tyranny,” President Franklin Roosevelt declared During the Cold War that followed, the federal government established a network of 181 libraries and reading rooms in over 80 countries. In 1955, speciallymade lightweight copies of Animal Farm were flown from West Germany into Poland by balloon. The unifying principle — despite the terrible hypocrisy of Jim Crow — was that freedom of thought abroad would ultimately favor the spread of tolerant, free liberal democracies.

The United States was not always on the side of the angels in the Cold War and in Latin America presidents have backed authoritarian regimes at the expense of dissidents. But Jimmy Carter, for instance, forcefully defended playwright Vaclav Havel and his fellow Czechoslovak dissidents in the late 1970s, even when it imperiled his foreign policy of détente.

The tepid response of the Trump administration to the murder and dismemberment of the Saudi critic Jamal Khashoggi is just the most egregious example of why the global defense of freedom of the press and speech is no longer an American priority. The State Department has made barely a peep about any of this.

Perhaps it should come as no surprise coming from a president who is almost comically boastful about his antipathy to reading.

Not that literary dissidents are helpless. As the Russian poet Osip Mandelstam, who himself died in a Soviet gulag, is said to have put it: “If they’re killing people for poetry, that means they honor and esteem it, they fear it, that means poetry is power.” The perverse logic of censorship is that in attempting to repress literature, it lures a new generation of dissidents.

The age-old strategy of “samizdat,” clandestine selfpublishing, is mobilizing once again. Even in North Korea, where the pseudonymous author “Bandi” managed to smuggle out a collection of stories and poems to the West.

The consequences of America standing by apathetically could be disastrous — particularly if Mr. Trump and his Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, remain in power for another four years. In classic dystopian novels of the near-future — “Brave New World,” “1984,” “Fahrenheit 451” — the digital world is ubiquitous. The ghostly absence of books, and the freethinking they seed, is the nightmare. For much of the world, it’s not an impossible fate.  www.nytimes.com/2019/10/03/opinion/bookscensorship.html Image credits: Current Affairs

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Community/Public Interest - Award For Service

Lupita Nyong'o and Her Mother Awarded for Their Big Roles in Creating Cancer Awareness

By Amina Wako

Actress Lupita Nyong'o with her parents, Prof Anyang' Nyong'o and Dorothy Nyong'o (file photo) Photo: Lupita Nyong'o/Instagram

O

scar Award winner Lupita Nyong'o and her mother Dorothy Nyong'o have been feted with an international award.

Kisumu Governor Anyang' Nyong'o shared the news on his Facebook page on recently.

Mother and daughter were recognised by Harlem School of the Arts and are set to receive the Visionary Lineage Award in the ceremony set for October 21.

Harlem School of the Arts on their Instagram page pointed out that they are feting the Nyong'o's for their role in creating cancer awareness.

"Dorothy is a strong believer that a cancer free

Africa dream will be realized through Africa Cancer Foundation (https://africacancerfoundation.org), as she has participated and organized several conferences around the world," read the post.

The Kisumu Governor said the event is recognised by extraordinary black women who lead by example as advocates for the importance of arts education through their inspiring accomplishments.

The 2019 Harlem School of the Arts Mask Ball will be hosted by Fox 5 morning show anchor Lori Stokes, with an official after party thereafter.  https://allafrica.com/stories/201910160046.html

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Community/Public Interest - Opinion

These are the 5 Things I do to Keep My Brain Healthy’

By Caroline Shannon Karasik

B

rain health—having a healthy mind is crucial, which is why you’ll want to listen up as Ajeet Sodhi, MD, a neurologist and the Director of Neurocritical Care at the California Institute of Neuroscience, shares the habits and activities he does to promote and improve brain function every single day.

1. Regularly Exercise Your Mind Just like the rest of your body, keeping your brain active and engaged is key to optimal brain health. “My brain is busy all the time”. “I love puzzles and doing the crossword or Sudoku, as well as reading the paper and challenging my brain to learn and do new and different things constantly.”

And the benefits have been proven: In a recent study conducted by the University of Exeter, researchers found people who regularly completed word puzzles were found to have a brain that clocked in 10 years younger than their actual age. If puzzles aren’t really your thing, don’t sweat—learning new skills or languages, regularly reading, and otherwise engaging your brain in different ways can help.

2. Munch On Brain Food Dr. Sodhi includes healthy foods in his recipe for total brain health. He sticks to foods that are rich in omega-3 fatty acids and other nutrients that help to boost brain health, like fatty fish (think salmon or mackerel), eggs, yogurt, and fresh juice. “I also eat a lot of nuts and whole grains which are rich in vitamin E,” he says, pointing to the antioxidant known for its reputation for supporting healthy brain function.

Dr. Sodhi also makes sure to incorporate lutein-rich foods, like dark, leafy green vegetables (e.g. kale, spinach, collard and turnip greens), as well as peas and eggs, into his overall diet. In a 2017 study published in Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience, lutein was shown to potentially have a protective effect against cognitive decline.

Rounding out Dr. Sodhi’s list are foods that contain polyphenols, like red grapes, cranberries, blueberries and tomatoes. “Polyphenols help decrease inflammation—the enemy of good brain health.”

3. Sweat it out Breaking a sweat is also a daily part of Dr. Sodhi’s routine. “I get some kind of exercise every day for 30 minutes,” he says. “Walking, riding a bike, running—

whatever. It’s crucial.” It’s true: Recent research presented by the Cognitive Neuroscience Society (CNS) showed that regular exercise not only has longterm effects but also immediate ones for brain and mental health—just one sweat session can lead to an instant cognitive boost.

The American Heart Association recommends adults get at least 150 minutes per week of moderateintensity aerobic activity (like brisk walking or dancing) or 75 minutes per week of vigorous aerobic activity (such as running, cycling, or swimming laps). You can also do a combination of both to make sure you clock in your weekly recommendation.

4. Live with purpose Dr. Sodhi says one of the things that helps keep his brain healthy is moving through his day with a purpose.

“As a physician, I have a built-in purpose—my patients,” he says. “However, my purpose goes far beyond that— it’s my family, my community and my colleagues, too.

And, if I wasn’t involved in this way, I’d volunteer to help others, maybe through a local nonprofit or outreach organization.”

This isn’t just a Dr. Sodhi thing—living with purpose is one of the nine tentpoles of Blue Zones communities (www.wellandgood.com/good-advice/blue-zone-power-9)

(the areas that have some of the healthiest and longest-living populations on the planet), as it’s often associated with happiness and better mood.

Additionally, a 2014 study showed that participants who volunteered reported “significantly better physical and mental health” than those who didn’t volunteer.

5. Drink up Whether it’s a cup of coffee or drinking water, Dr. Sodhi they both make his list for better brain health.

Not only does he enjoy the benefits of caffeine in terms of maintaining energy levels and staying more alert, but Dr. Sodhi says research shows there are compounds in coffee that impact the brain proteins connected to Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases. “Research is ongoing, but we may discover that these compounds also help slow cognitive decline and the onset of certain brain diseases,” he says.

As for water, Dr. Sodhi says he refills as much as possible. “Drinking water helps the skin look hydrated and healthy, helps keep hunger at bay and, most importantly, prevents dehydration,” he says.

“Dehydration negatively affects the brain—it affects concentration, coordination and mood, too.” For some people, drinking plenty of water can help ward off headaches, he adds. www.wellandgood.com/good-advice/improve-brainfunction-habits

79  October 2019  Black Business News  www.bbala.org  1-323-291-7819

Community/Public Interest - Obituary/Memorial

Diahann Carroll, Pioneering Actress, Oscar Nominee and Singer has Died at 84

By Nekesa Mumbi Mooy, AP Entertainment Writer

D

iahann Carroll, the Oscarnominated actress and singer who won critical acclaim as the first black woman to star in a non-servant role in a TV series as “Julia,” has died. She was 84.

Carroll’s daughter, Susan Kay, told The Associated Press her mother died in Los Angeles after a long bout with cancer.

During her long career, which included frequent headlining gigs in Las Vegas, Carroll earned a

Although she was not the first black woman to star in her own TV show (Ethel Waters played a maid in the 1950s series “Beulah”), she was the first to star as someone other than a servant.

NBC executives were wary about putting “Julia” on the network during the racial unrest of the 1960s, but it

Tony Award for the musical “No Strings” and an Academy Award nomination for “Claudine.”

She also starred in the 1959 film version of “Porgy & Bess,” opposite Dorothy Dandridge and Sydney Poitier.

But she was perhaps best known for her pioneering work on “Julia.” Carroll played Julia Baker, a nurse whose husband had been killed in Vietnam, in the groundbreaking situation comedy that aired from 1968 to 1971.

Diahann Carroll, Roy Glenn, Jr. and Marc Copage in a 1969 episode of "Julia." NBC

Actress Halle Berry presents actress Diahann Carroll the Ground Breaking Role Award during the TV Land Awards at the Hollywood Palladium in 2003. Getty Images

was an immediate hit.

It had its critics, though, including some who said Carroll’s character, who is the mother of a young son, was not a realistic portrayal of a black American woman in the 1960s.

“They said it was a fantasy,” Carroll recalled in 1998. “All of this was untrue. Much about the character of Julia I took from my own life, my family.”

Not shy when it came to confronting racial barriers, Carroll was the first African American woman to win a Tony Award for an actress in a leading role, for her portrayal of a high-fashion American model in Paris who has a love affair with a white American author in the 1959 Richard Rodgers

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Diahann Carroll, 1972 AP PHOTOS musical “No Strings.” Critic Walter Kerr described her as “a girl with a sweet smile, brilliant dark eyes and a profile regal enough to belong on a coin.”

She appeared often in plays previously considered exclusive territory for white actresses: “Same Time, Next Year,” ‘’Agnes of God” and “Sunset Boulevard” (as faded star Norma Desmond, the role played by Gloria Swanson in the 1950 film.) In 2014 she unexpectedly withdrew from the Broadway revival of “A Raisin in the Sun” opposite Denzel Washington, citing the heavy demands of rehearsals and the performance schedule. ”I like to think that I opened doors for other women, although that wasn’t my original intention,” she said in 2002.

Her film career was sporadic.

She began with a secondary role in “Carmen Jones” in 1954 and five years later appeared in “Porgy and Bess,” although her singing voice was dubbed because it wasn’t considered strong enough for the Gershwin opera. Her other films included “Goodbye Again,” ‘’Hurry Sundown,” ‘’Paris Blues,” anvid “The Split.”

The 1974 film “Claudine” provided her most memorable role. She played a hard-bitten single mother of six who finds romance in Harlem with a garbage man played by James Earl Jones. Carroll says

she got the role after the intended lead actress, Diana Sands, became sick and insisted her friend take the role (Sands died in 1973).

But Carroll said those behind the movies did not see her in the role because of her work in “Julia” and made her audition without makeup.

“Give me a chance. Just give me the opportunity to show you that I understand,” she recalled telling them in an interview with the National Visionary Leadership Project. “I’m an actress, singer, from New York City, from the streets of New York, and I pride myself on my work ... I would like to be given the opportunity to stretch my wings.”

In the 1980s, she appeared in the long-running prime-time soap opera “Dynasty” for three years.

More recently, she had a number of guest shots and small roles in TV series, including playing the mother of Isaiah Washington’s character, Dr. Preston Burke, on “Grey’s Anatomy.”

She also returned to her roots in nightclubs. In 2006, she made her first club appearance in New York in four decades, singing at Feinstein’s at the Regency. Reviewing a return engagement in 2007, a New York Times critic wrote that she sang “Both Sides Now” with “the reflective tone of a woman who has survived many severe storms and remembers every lightning flash and thunderclap.”

Carol Diann Johnson was born in New York City and attended the High School for the Performing Arts. Her father was a subway conductor and her mother a homemaker.

She began her career as a model, but a prize from “Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts” TV show led to nightclub engagements.

In her 1998 memoir “Diahann,” Carroll traced her turbulent romantic life, which included liaisons with Harry Belafonte, Duke Ellington,

Miles Davis, Sammy Davis Jr., Sidney Poitier and David Frost.

She even became engaged to Frost, but the engagement was canceled.

An early marriage to nightclub owner Monte Kay resulted in Carroll’s only child, Suzanne, as well as a divorce. She also divorced her second husband, retail executive Freddie Glusman, later marrying magazine editor Robert DeLeon, who died.

Her most celebrated marriage was in 1987, to singer Vic Damone, and the two appeared together in nightclubs. But they separated in 1991 and divorced several years later.

After she was treated for breast cancer in 1998, she spoke out for more money for research and for free screening for women who couldn’t afford mammograms. ”We all look forward to the day that mastectomies, chemotherapy and radiation are considered barbaric,” Carroll told a gathering in 2000.

On Twitter, Debbie Allen, actress, dancer and director, who was a producer on “A Different World” wrote: “Diahann Carroll you taught us so much. We are stronger, more beautiful and risk takers because of you. We will forever sing your praises and speak your name.

Love Love Love, Debbie.”

The Rev. Jesse Jackson also took to Twitter to express his sentiments: “#DiahannCarroll was a transformative force for freedom.

She identified with Dr King in the civil rights movement with a simple kiss. She brought down ancient barriers & built bridges. She left the world better than she found it.

We are in her debt. We miss her so much already. RIP” Besides her daughter, Carroll is survived by grandchildren August and Sydney.  https://chicago.suntimes. com/2019/10/4/20898870/diahann-carrolldies-at-84-julia-claudine

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Community/Public Interest - Obituary/Memorial

Appreciation: Why Jessye Norman was More than a Great Voice. Much More

By Mark Swed, Los Angeles Times

S

hortly after 9/11, Jessye Norman was scheduled to sing Schubert's solemn song cycle "Die Winterreisse " (Winter's Journey) staged by Robert Wilson in Paris. She called the director first thing

Not singing, not moving, just standing.

"I don't know anyone who could have done that.

What she was feeling was so deep in just standing there that it moved the entire audience to tears,"

Jessye Norman, Muse/ique for the iPod era, gramilano.com

in the morning and said she had been crying all night, overcome with emotion about the terrorist attacks, and she couldn't possibly perform that night.

"But Jessye, " Wilson told her, "that's why you have to sing. We need to hear your voice."

She did sing. And sure enough, during a sad song, she started to cry, Wilson recounted on the phone from Düsseldorf, Germany, where he is rehearsing. "Tears ran down her face, and she stopped and just stood.

Wilson continued, his voice breaking. "For 10 minutes ! For 10 minutes !

"Her silence could be even more moving and more powerful than her singing."

That’s saying a lot, because Norman, who died Sept.

30 at age 74, had a voice that, in her prime, filled any room or arena with a glorious sound capable of taking over your psyche. She had a presence that could hypnotize an audience.

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Jessye Norman, Ave Maria (Shubert), youtube.com

have a new awareness, a mini enlightenment. The first sound you hear after that silence will resonate with a natural wonder that connects you to your environment and maybe will even make you feel whole again.

Yes, she made stock operatic characters come startlingly to life. Yes, she brought an intensity to Strauss’ “Four Last Songs,” to Isolde’s “Liebestod,” to Mahler’s “Song of the Earth,” all that end-of-days music that treads the line between life and death.

Yes, she got all the honors, the Grammys, the medals, the awards that the world has to give artists. She sang for five presidents. Jimmy Carter, who turned 95 the I once told her that I wished she would run for president.

She was smart.

She devoted her life not just to her voice but to using her voice to make the world a better place.

She was the most dedicated superstar in opera. She was articulate and measured her every word. Most of all, she could make you vote for her. She had that kind of command.

She laughed at the suggestion. She had huge, magnetic eyes that then seemed to turn in their sockets.

"Hmmm, " she said. More laughter. But the amazing thing is that even in that laughter, there was stillness.

I had never seen anyone who could be so inside her own body and make that so meaningful.

As we look back on the career of one of America’s most celebrated opera stars — forget opera, she was a transformative artist, plain and simple — the 10 silent Paris moments are worthy of entering opera lore, as they are of finding room in the annals of 9 /11. What they represent, as only Norman (or Miss Norman as even some of her closest friends addressed her, ever in awe) could, is the capacity of art to make us go so deeply inside our emotions that we overcome them and

Jessye Norman - "When I am laid in earth" (Henry Purcell, Dido and Aeneas)), youtube.com

day after she died, had made Norman promise to sing at his funeral.

And, yes, you can read her memoirs, hear her interviews, listen to her recordings and get a pretty good idea of the exceptional care with which she managed her voice, her art and her life. That's all knowable. But Norman, herself, is far less knowable.

Wilson seems to be a too-little-acknowledged key player in her development. So, too, Southern California, which proved fertile ground for the Georgia-born Norman to grow as a singer. She made her debut at the Hollywood Bowl's 50th anniversary concert in 1972, an unknown starring in a gala concert performance of "Aida" with a young James Levine see page 86

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Community/Public Interest - Obituary/Memorial from page 85

conducting. She was back in town at the Bowl or with the Los Angeles Philharmonic or in recital every season for the rest of the decade. In 1974 she toured with Zubin Mehta and the L.A. Phil.

She didn’t make all that much of an impression in these pages, however. Repeated appearances got increasing less play and were assigned to freelance reviewers.

She was considered to have a very large voice but one lacking personality and, well, not always in control — magnificent if ungainly.

H e r reputation

her being. She was groomed to be, if not president, at least queen. The next year she would have appeared with David Bowie in the eight-hour mega-opera “the CIVIL warS,” that Wilson had devised for the L.A. Olympic Arts Festival had the funding been raised.

“Amazing Grace” was the final song. Norman wrote in her memoir, “Stand Up Straight and Sing !”: “Under Bob Wilson’s direction, I sang this unaccompanied while pouring, over the course of a full four minutes, a pitcher of water, lighted from above and below, onto a Lucite table, the water and light flowing seamlessly from pitcher to tabletop to floor, the audience becoming a part of that continuous stream.

We had, in the end, become one.”

She leaves it at that and says little more about

▲3chicspolitico.com Charlie Rose grew, and in 1983, Norman made her Metropolitan Opera debut as Dido in Berlioz's "Les Troyens."

Martin Bernheimer, The Times music critic who died Sunday, wrote in his not-altogether-gallant way that he was impressed. "She proved, " he said, "that histrionic restraint and expressive intensity can do much to counteract the romantic disadvantage of a decidedly ample physique."

In point of fact, she was, by this point, incomparable.

Something had happened to her, and that something came the year before, while she was working for the first time with Wilson in a staged production of spirituals called “Great Day in the Morning” in Paris.

In that production she found her focus, her bearing,

Wilson, although she does mention that she had become interested in India and Hindu thought. I always figured this was the moment of great transformation when Jessye Norman became Jessye Norman.

Wilson denies that he had all that much to do with it. He told me he simply saw in her what the rest of us missed. He helped give her a little more confidence and demonstrated how she might move more slowly and smoothly.

“She had nobility in just sitting or standing,” Wilson

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explained. “When I first met her in the early'70s, I just couldn’t take my eyes off her. She was so beautiful sitting, and when she stood it was as beautiful as when she sang.”

All he claims to have done is brought that out for others to see. “She always understood her body,” he said.

To prove his point about Norman's ingrained authority, Wilson described an incident when he first got to know her. After attending an opera performance in Amsterdam, they encountered the police attacking a black man on the street. Norman asked what was going on.

“The police said it was none of your business,” Wilson recounted, “and she said, ‘It is my business.’ We went to the police station with the man and waited all night long. She refused to leave until they released him.”

Rachael Worby, the artistic director of the Pasadena ensemble Muse /ique and Norman's regular conductor on tours and special projects over the last 15 years, expressed much the same thing. "They may call her a diva," Worby said, "but everything she did was really at the service of raising people up. She gravitated towards people, such as Henry Louis Gates Jr., Gloria Steinem and Maya Angelou, people whose life work is to deal with chaos."

Worby also sent me an email with a quote Norman gave at a commencement speech that summed up her attitude toward art and society. “Art makes each

of us whole,” Norman concluded, “by insisting that we use all of our senses, our heads and our hearts, that we express with our bodies, our voices, our hands, as well as our minds.”

One of Norman’s last projects was one of her most unexpected, appearing in a San Francisco Symphony performance of John Cage’s “Song Books,” with avant-garde singers Meredith Monk and Joan La Barbara. Michael Tilson Thomas, a longtime Norman friend and the only one who could conceive of such a trio, conducted.

Yuval Sharon directed. viagogo.co.uk Sharon said he was terrified asking this legend, so grand, to do things like sit at a typewriter and do nothing. “But it was so moving,” he said, "to see her strip away the veneer and just give herself completely to the material.

"She had to unlearn being herself and just be present. But she, in fact, had a quiet obedience about the project."

Having bonded with Monk, Norman had even hoped to attend one of the L.A. Phil performances of Monk’s opera, “Atlas,” that Sharon directed in June. By then Norman, who was using a wheelchair and in great pain, was unable to travel. But it’s nice to think that she was there in spirit, since this would have made a lovely closing of the circle that began with "Aida " and the L.A. Phil at the Bowl 47 years earlier.

Jessye Norman will not be forgotten. And “Great Day in the Morning” should not be either. It was recorded, yet her supposedly loyal label, Philips, only released it as an LP in France, and never made it available on CD or download. It may be her greatest recording and belongs on any list of the world’s greatest recordings. The “Winterreise” was broadcast on European television.

That’s nowhere to be found either. Nor have any of her many astonishing recordings been remastered in high resolution sound, not that any resolution is high enough to capture her essence. Still, she deserves better.  www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/music/scent-jessye-norman-appreciation-1009-20191004uix3jurbtvfbjhqmssxzd2szj4-story.html

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Community/Public Interest - Obituary/Memorial

Observer Founder Dr. William H. Lee Has Passed

By Genoa Barrow

H

e was tireless in the fight for access and respect for Black journalists and relentless in championing for Blacks to have a seat at the proverbial table.

Sacramento OBSERVER publisher emeritus Dr. William H. Lee went on to his glory, having passed away on Sunday, September 22nd. Dr. Lee was 83 years old.

Dr. Lee was born on May 29, 1936, in Austin, Texas.

His parents (Rev. Charles R. Lee, father, and Carrie Lee, mother), with sons William and James R. Lee, moved to California, first to San Francisco and then to Sacramento, in the early 1940s. Dr. Lee attended Sacramento State University (1953-1955) and went on to earn a B.A. degree (Accounting) from UC Berkeley in 1957. He was awarded an Honorary Ph.D. from Southeastern University in 1970.

After graduating from UC Berkeley, Lee had short, but fruitful, employment stays with both Aerojet and IBM Corporations. His dream to establish his own firm, however, led him to open his own real estate and land development company in 1960. The success he had in real estate allowed him to invest in the much-

needed community newspaper publishing business.

He along with local radio connoisseur Geno Gladden and businessman John W. Cole, launched The Sacramento Observer on November 22, 1962.

A short time after starting the paper, Gladden passed away. And, in 1965, Lee and his wife, Kathryn, became sole owners of the paper, also starting at the time the Lee Publishing Company. The publishing company grew during the 1970s and 80s, to publishing at one point, six distinct publications in California and Nevada — including Los Angeles, San Francisco, Stockton, Solano County, Reno, Nevada and Sacramento.

Dr. Lee took on local, state and national leadership roles. From 1970 to 1989, he served on the board of directors and as an officer of the National Newspapers Publisher’s Association (NNPA), the Black Press of America. He was co-founder and a long-time president of the West Coast Black Publisher’s Association (WCBPA). Lee was named “Publisher of the Year” by the WCBPA in 1985.

Active in the field of journalism and the newspaper industry, Lee’s publications, along with his call for quality and excellence in the industry, gave him a

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L-R La and M

arry Lee, son of William H. Lee Mr. Lee national reputation. He was a member of the jury, judging for Pulitzer Prize winners in Journalism in 1987.

Lee’s newspaper, The Sacramento Observer, has been named the nation’s No. 1 Black newspaper six times; being awarded the coveted John B. Russwurm trophy, the nation’s top newspaper publishing honor given by the National Newspaper Publisher’s Association.

A recognized business leader, Lee served on the board of directors of a number of national and local companies, including Blue Cross of California; Methodist Hospital (Sacramento); the Superior Valley Small Business Development Corporation; the advisory board of Wells Fargo Bank; and, the advisory board of the former Home Savings financial institution.

Dr. Lee’s commitment to serve others kept him active in civic and educational circles. He was named Alumnus of the Year (1993), by UC Berkeley’s Black Alumni Association. He was appointed by California Governor George Deukmejain to chair the statewide Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday committee, leading to the state’s observance of the MLK holiday.

Years later, in January 2014, Dr. Lee would serve as the Grand Marshal of the annual Dr. Martin Luther King Holiday March in Sacramento.

In Sacramento, the prestigious Sacramento Magazine named Dr. Lee as one of the “50 Most Powerful Leaders” in the City (2006). He was a cofounder and former President of the Men’s Civic League; co-founder of the Sacramento Urban

League; as well as co-founder of the Sacramento Area Black Caucus.

Dr. Lee has been honored by a large number of groups and organizations for his long and dedicated community service and leadership. He received Lifetime Achievement Awards from the California Black Chamber of Commerce and the Sacramento Chapter of the Links and the OBSERVER was inducted into the Sacramento Metro Chamber of Commerce’s Hall of Fame in 2012.

Dr. Lee has also been saluted by Sacramento 100 Black Men, Inc; the Sacramento Branch of the NAACP (D.D. Mattocks Award); the American Leadership Forum (Exemplary Leader Award) and was a recipient of the Congressman Bob Matsui Award (for Distinguished Community Service); The Greater Sacramento Urban League’s Co-Founder Award; the California State University, Sacramento Alumni Association’s Distinguished Service Award; and many others.

In 2012, Fortune School of Education named an elementary school, William H. Lee College Prep, in honor of Dr. Lee. The school’s computer lab is named after Dr. Lee’s late wife.

In January 2015, Kevin Johnson, Sacramento’s first African American mayor, awarded Dr. Lee with the Mort Friedman Legacy Award, which honors an outstanding individual who has made notable civic and community contributions within the Sacramento city and region.  https://sacobserver.com/2019/09/observer-founder-drwilliam-h-lee-has-passed/

89  October 2019  Black Business News  www.bbala.org  1-323-291-7819

Community/Public Interest - Obituary/Memorial

Elijah Cummings, the Longtime Congressman from Maryland, is Dead at 68

By Dara Sharif

In this Aug. 7, 2019, photo, House Oversight and Reform Chairman Rep. Elijah Cummings speaks at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. Cummings, who headed one of the committees leading the House impeachment probe of Donald Trump, died early the morning of Oct. 17, 2019, at the age of 68. Photo: Win McNamee (Getty)

R

ep. Elijah Cummings, the long-serving Democratic congressman from Maryland, died early Thursday morning October 17th at the age of 68.

Cummings died at Baltimore’s Johns Hopkins Hospital at 2:45 a.m. Thursday “due to complications

concerning longstanding health challenges,” the lawmaker’s office said in a statement, according to WBAL TV 11.

Cummings, who had served in the House since 1996, was chair of the powerful House Oversight and Reform Committee, one of the three House panels

90  October 2019  Black Business News  www.bbala.org  1-323-291-7819

Members of the Congressional Black Caucus gather around the casket during a memorial service for U.S. Rep. Elijah Cummings in Statuary Hall of the U.S. Capitol. He is the first black lawmaker to lie in state at the U.S. Capitol. Photo: by Erin Schaff-Pool/Getty Images

leading the impeachment inquiry into Donald Trump.

House lawmakers are investigating whether Trump used the power of his office to pressure the president of Ukraine to help him get dirt on Joe Biden, Trump’s potential political rival.

However, as the Associated Press explains, Cummings and Trump had been bumping heads for some time, with Cummings’ committee hard at work investigating Trump’s—and his family members’— many dealings for any signs of impropriety.

As the Washington Post notes, Cummings was a “leading voice against the Trump administration’s efforts to add a citizenship question to the 2020 Census.” He also spoke out forcefully against the separation of children from their migrant parents at the southern U.S. border, describing as inhumane the Trump administration’s “child internment camps.”

Cummings and Trump particularly clashed this year, when Trump tried to come for Baltimore—Cummings’ hometown and the predominantly black city within

his district—in a tweet as being a “disgusting, rat and rodent infested place.”

Per AP, Cummings, who served as chair of the Congressional Black Caucus from 2003 to 2004, replied: that government officials must stop making “hateful, incendiary comments” that only serve to divide and distract the nation from its real problems, including mass shootings and white supremacy.

“Those in the highest levels of the government must stop invoking fear, using racist language and encouraging reprehensible behavior,” Cummings said in a speech at the National Press Club.

Reactions to Cummings’ early-morning death began to pour in as news spread, from his local constituents to pundits, politicians, entertainers and the like.

Survivors include his wife, political scientist Maya Rockeymoore Cummings, and three children. www.theroot.com/elijah-cummings-the-longtimecongressman-from-maryland-1839125996

91  October 2019  Black Business News  www.bbala.org  1-323-291-7819

Community/Public Interest - Obituary/Memorial

George Chambers, of Psych-Soul Pioneers the Chambers Brothers, Dead at 88

By Jon Blistein

George “Pops” Chambers, singer and bassist for the influential Sixties psych-soul outfit the Chambers Brothers, died Friday, October 12th. He was 88. © Provided by Penske Media Corporation Various

T

he musician’s death was announced on the Chambers Brothers’ Facebook page with a short note that read, “To all our fans, friends and loved ones, I was informed this morning at about 5:00 am, that my brother George, known as ‘Pops’ Chambers has passed. We thank you for all your years of Love Peace and Happiness.”

No details on the cause of death were given.

George’s brother and bandmate, Lester Chambers, did not immediately return Rolling Stone‘s request for comment.

The Chambers Brothers were active in the late Sixties through the mid-Seventies and are best known for their 11-minute song, “Time Has Come Today.” A shortened version of the track was first released as a single in 1966, but it wasn’t until late 1967/early 1968 that an abridged version of the song became a surprise sleeper hit, peaking at Number 11 on the Billboard Hot 100, where it sat for five weeks.

George Chambers and his brothers — Lester, Joe and Willie — got their start in music as members of the choir at their Baptist church while growing up in Mississippi. After a stint in the army, George relocated to Los Angeles in the mid-Fifties, and his brothers soon followed.

The quartet spent several years touring around

Southern California as a gospel outfit, but by the Sixties they were running in folk circles and even earned a slot at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival. Eventually, the Chambers Brothers added Brian Keenan on drums, making them one of just a handful of interracial groups at the time.

The Chambers Brothers soon began to incorporate electric instruments into their sound and eventually signed a deal with Columbia. While the first version of “Time Has Come Today” was a flop, the group scored a regional hit with “All Strung Out Over You,” which allowed them to record a new version of “Time” in 1967.

Over the next 10 years, the Chambers Brothers were staples of the Los Angeles psych and rock scene, releasing an array of studio albums and live albums, including their 1970 classic, Feelin’ the Blues.

The Chambers Brothers stopped recording in 1975 and although they split soon after, each member continued to play music. George, for his part, returned to gospel music and later became deacon of his church.

The Chambers Brothers would also reunite periodically over the years to perform live.  www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/ celebrities/2019/09/09/fresh-prince-bel-air-actor-johnwesley-has-died-72-cancer/2268812001/

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International - Zambia Celebrates Independence

Image credits: blogspot.com smartphonemodel.com 95  October 2019  Black Business News  www.bbala.org  1-323-291-7819

International

For information: www.frasernet.com, gfraser@frasernet.com, mary@ctoinc.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) -

•

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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

97  October 2019  Black Business News  www.bbala.org  1-323-291-7819

International - Finance

Equity, KCB buyouts: The Making of $15b Banking Giants

By The Eastafrica

K

enya’s two biggest banks, Equity and KCB, are locked in an acquisitions and expansion race that has seen them build an asset base of more than Ksh1.5 trillion ($15 billion) spread across 10 African countries.

The two lenders have in recent months announced a flurry of local and cross-border acquisitions, fuelling their dream of becoming pan-African lenders with geographical spread and financial muscle to compete with their much bigger South and West African rivals.

This past week, Equity Bank announced that it had entered into an agreement to acquire a majority stake in the Commercial Bank of the Congo, commonly known as the Banque Commercial du Congo (BCDC). BCDC is the second-largest lender in the DRC by assets, estimated at $700 million.

The transaction is expected to be completed in the next three months, subject to shareholder and regulatory approvals.

ACQUISITIONS The lender is also in the final stages of an earlier announced acquisition of 6.27% shareholding in Atlas Mara Ltd, the Sub-Saharan Africa financial services holding company founded by former Barclays Plc chief executive Bob Diamond, at an estimated cost of Ksh10.7 billion ($107 million).

The transaction, which is expected to be completed

by December, will raise Equity’s presence to nine countries, in addition to Kenya, DRC, Uganda, South Sudan and Ethiopia.

“We’re going to be the largest bank in the Eastern and Central African region, with the possibility of expanding our balance sheet to beyond Ksh1 trillion ($10 billion) by the end of this year,” Equity Bank group chief executive James Mwangi told The EastAfrican in an interview, hinting at ongoing plans to enter another African market.

He says the bank’s plan is to enter new markets through a combination of acquisitions and setting up of fresh operations.

Equity Group’s total assets stood at Ksh638.6 billion ($6.38 billion) as at end of June this year, excluding the BCDC and Atlas Mara acquisitions. The lender declined

to give a breakdown of how the acquisitions will raise the asset base to diasporamessenger.com $10 billion in three months, citing regulatory restrictions.

Both Equity and KCB are listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange, and are cross-listed on neighbouring stock markets.

FINANCIAL MUSCLE KCB’s total assets currently stand at Ksh746.51 billion ($7.46 billion) as per the lender’s financial statements for the six months to June 30 this year. The lender, which has operations in Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and South Sudan, is in the final stages of acquiring state-owned National Bank of Kenya (NBK) through a share swap deal.

The acquisition of NBK, which has an asset base of Ksh114.59 billion ($1.14 billion), and the takeover of Ksh4 billion ($40 million) worth of assets of the collapsed Imperial Bank, will raise KCB’s total asset base to Ksh865.1 billion ($8.65 billion).

“KCB Group is keen on new growth opportunities through mergers and acquisitions in addition to organic growth in its focus to build a Ksh1 trillion asset-strong financial institution by the end of 2022,” said the lender in a statement. “We are excited to see increased momentum towards liberalisation of the key economic sectors taking place in Ethiopia. We are also looking at new markets such as the DRC.” South Africa’s Standard Bank is the continent’s leading banking group, with operations in 20 subSaharan African countries and assets in excess of $145 billion, according to the lender’s 2018 annual report.

Ecobank Transnational Inc, another conglomerate

98  October 2019  Black Business News  www.bbala.org  1-323-291-7819

such as Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi and South Sudan, a position it now appears to have shifted from. A year earlier, the bank had said it needed to strengthen its financial muscle to fund big infrastructure projects and gain entry into at least 10 African markets by 2020, top on the list being Somalia, Mozambique and the DRC.

with operations in 36 African countries, has a total asset base of $22.6 billion.

The four-largest lenders by asset size in both Uganda and Tanzania hold $7.24 billion assets. The largest Tanzanian bank, CRDB, holds an estimated $2.52 billion worth of assets, followed closely by NMB with an estimated $2.36 billion in assets. In Uganda, Stanbic Bank controls $1.5 billion in assets, followed

by Centenary Bank with $866 million.

KCB and Equity have both opened representative offices in Ethiopia, the continent’s second-most populous nation of more than 100 million, as they wait for an expected liberalisation of the market.

In 2017, KCB cancelled a proposal to raise Ksh10 billion ($100 million) of additional capital through a rights issue, and said it wanted to concentrate on consolidating its position in markets it already served

‘VIABLE INVESTMENT’ Equity Group, which had also shelved its continental expansion in 2016, now says it plans to be in 15 African countries by 2024.

Equity Bank, with over 14 million customers currently, has 289 branches with operations in Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania, South Sudan and the DRC. Analysts at Standard Investment Bank (SIB) say Equity Bank’s latest acquisition of BCDC is a viable investment.

“We view the transaction as a positive, given that Equity Bank Congo has been the fastest growing subsidiary of Equity Group Holdings, in both total assets and absolute net profit since acquisition,” SIB said in a market report last week. “Therefore, growing the pie will aid the Group to not only bolster its bottomline, but also reduce its concentration risk.”

Equity Bank Congo is expected to contribute about 22% of the Group’s total assets after consummation, up from eight per cent, according to SIB. Equity already has operations in DRC through a subsidiary it established by acquiring an 86% stake in Pro Credit Bank.

Between 2017 and 2018, it was the seventh-largest bank in the country with assets exceeding $200 million and a customer base of over 170,000. Equity plans to merge the new business with its existing subsidiary in DRC. BCDC is majority-owned by Belgian entrepreneur George Arthur Forrest and family (66.53% and the government of the DRC (25.53%), while the remaining 7.94 per cent shares are owned by other minority shareholders. The lender operates 29 branches across the country including in Kinshasa, Goma and Lubumbashi.

“The DRC requires support because it is poorly banked, with financial inclusion at only five per cent. In the four years we have been in the country, we have come to appreciate the risks and opportunities there.

If we complete the acquisition of BCDC, we will have more impact in that country,” said Mr Mwangi.  www.alleastafrica.com/2019/09/16/kenya-equity-kcbbuyouts-the-making-of-15b-regions-banking-giants Image credits: loans.or.ke, Daily Nation, TechMoran

99  October 2019  Black Business News  www.bbala.org  1-323-291-7819

International - Nobel Peace Prize

Nobel Peace Prize Awarded to Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed

By Aimee Lewis, Samuel Getachew, CNN,

T

he Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to Abiy Ahmed, the Ethiopian Prime Minister who helped end his country's 20-year war with Eritrea.

Announcing the prize in Oslo, the Norwegian Nobel Committee said Abiy's "efforts deserve recognition and need encouragement."

The conflict between Ethiopia and Eritrea over disputed border territory came at a huge financial and humanitarian cost for both countries.

Abiy, 43, also recently won plaudits for his role in helping to broker a power-sharing deal in neighboring Sudan after a political crisis that led to the arrest of Omar al-Bashir, the country's ruler for almost three decades.

Berit Reiss-Andersen, the chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, said Abiy -- who has received both praise and criticism for his reforms in Ethiopia -- has not been recognized too soon, but acknowledged that progress still needs to be made in the country.

"As Prime Minister, Abiy Ahmed has sought to promote reconciliation, solidarity and social justice," she added.

"However, many challenges remain unresolved.

Ethnic strife continues to escalate, and we have seen troubling examples of this in recent weeks and months."

Reiss-Andersen continued: "There is definitely a lot achieved already in reforming Ethiopia to a democracy but there's also a long way to go. Rome was not made in a day and neither will peace or democratic development be achieved in a short period of time."

The committee had not been able to contact Abiy before making his award public, but after the announcement the Ethiopian Prime Minister's office tweeted that it was "pleased to express our pride" in his selection.

Elected in April last year, the early months of Abiy's premiership were marked with bold and progressive decision making.

H e rreleased eleased l d the th counttry's ' political polilititicall prisoners, priisoners He country's denouncing their torture, and freed jailed journalists.

Abiy met the political opposition and civil society to discuss reform, and invited previously exiled political parties to return to Ethiopia. He also embarked on major institutional reforms, including in the security and justice sectors.

"In Ethiopia, even if much work remains, Abiy Ahmed has initiated important reforms that give many citizens hope for a better life and a brighter future," said ReissAndersen.

Poet and writer Biniam Getaneh described the award as a "big win" not only for Abiy and Ethiopia but for Africa too.

"Despite the shortcomings of the reform he introduced and the man himself, I believe he is deserving of this international recognition simply for his peace effort he made with Eritrea," he told CNN.  https://edition.cnn.com/2019/10/11/europe/nobel-peace-prize2019-intl/index.html?no-st=1570844333

100  October 2019  Black Business News  www.bbala.org  1-323-291-7819

International - Nobel Peace Prize

How Jason Njoku Beat the Odds to Create iROKOtv, ‘Africa’s Own Netflix’

By Parker Diakite

J

ason Njoku failed 10 times in other businesses before realizing the lane in which he would be most successful: N i g e r i a n Cinema.

Before investing in Nollywood, some of Njoku’s earliest enterprises were a party promotion venture in nightclubs and a magazine called Brash, which claimed itself to be “Manchester’s quintessential guide to frolicking and fashion.”

“It was largely acknowledged that I was an absolute, complete failure,” Njoku stated to Fast Company.

After being forced to move back into his mother’s apartment following the collapse of Lehman Brothers, he noticed a change in how his mother consumed television that would change the course of his life forever.

According to Njoku, when he was growing up, his mother mainly watched British soaps. Once moving back home, she was consuming more entertainment from her own country – Nollywood movies.

That revelation in his mother’s home is what inspired iROKOTV, a mobile entertainment and internet TV platform that’s widely known for its catalog of African ‘Nollywood’ movies.

Today, Njoku is a millionaire and the founder and CEO of iROKOTV. “I built the business from scratch – just me, a computer and three screens in a small room in east London,” he stated.

Since its launch in 2010, the business has grown and attracted up to $40 million in investment funding from foreign investors and venture capital investors.

The company serves as one of Africa’s largest internet TV providers, with a dedicated mobile app and

iROKOtv channels on Sky in the UK and across Africa. iROKOtv also produces its own original TV series and movies, as reported in Face 2 Face Africa.

“Starting a business, and getting some traction, is tough. Brutal. No doubt about that. But scaling and building, and seeing off incumbents, while juggling a team, investors, all the while trying to grow, it’s tougher still,” he told Africa Business Insight. http://legacy.travelnoire.com/jason-njoku-createirokotv-africa-netflix/ Image credits: TechCrunch, YouTube, iRokotv

101  October 2019  Black Business News  www.bbala.org  1-323-291-7819

International - Africa Policy Accelerator

Join the CSIS Africa Policy Accelerator

T

he Africa Policy Accelerator (APA) aims to develop, elevate, and connect the next generation of U.S.-Africa policymakers in Washington. Please browse the APA webpage (www. csis.org/programs/africa-program/africa-policy-accelerator)

for additional information on eligibility requirements.

January-December 2020 Term Application Deadline: November 29, 2019 Applicants must have at least two years of full-time work experience in a field related to sub-Saharan

African politics, security, development, or economics.

There is no fee associated with the APA Young professionals that are based in the DC area and focused on US-Africa policy are welcome to apply by sending the following documents to: tmukulu@csis.org or africa@csis.org: • Resume • Recommendation letter • Brief cover letter that explains what you hope to gain, as well as a discussion topic you would like to explore during an APA meeting.

The CSIS Africa Program is committed to charting new directions for U.S.-Africa policy, providing forwardthinking analysis that spurs new insights and policy recommendations for the region.

For information visit: www.csis.org/programs/africaprogram/africa-policy-accelerator. 

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BlackNLA's 16th Annual Toy Drive - Benefiting At-Risk-Children Learn how we're helping children this upcoming season, and how you can too!

We ask YOU to help us put a smile on the faces of hundreds of children this holiday season.

To maximize the reach of potential donations, BlackNLA. com is seeking participation of businesses and individuals to organize their staff, fellow co-workers, friends, clients and others in the surrounding areas to participate.

The Toy Drive, launching Monday, November 4th, will be our 16th year helping underprivileged and at-risk youth in underserved communities in the Los Angeles Metro area. For more information and additional ways to help this year click here - www.blacknla.com/ToyDrive/Help.asp.

Those interested in participating in this year's Toy Drive should contact BlackNLA.com by phone at 1-323-954-8988 or e-mail toydrive@blacknla.com.

How can you help this year?

COLLECT Toys • If you work at a company with 30 or more employees - a box can be placed in your lunch room or lobby.

• If you have a company that gets repeat client traffic - a box can be placed in your lobby. Businesses participating as drop-off locations will be listed on our toy drive page and included in e-mails to be distributed to over 20,000 Los Angeles area companies and professionals.

• If you belong to a alumni or association - organize a group donation day among members, or co-host a BlackNLA Holiday Mixer.

• If you host events, host a toy drive event

DONATE Items • If you work at a company with items to donate to the youth - toys as well as personal hygiene and clothing are needed.

• If you work at a company with items that can be raffled off at various toy drive events (tickets, electronics, services, products, gift cards etc.). Funds from the raffle are used to purchase toys and gifts for the Toy Drive.

• Do you have unused gift cards? We can use those to purchase gifts.

• Don't have time to shop? Contribute to our toy drive fund with a cash gift and we will shop for you. Click Here to make your gift.

Volunteers • Do you have time to deliver boxes to businesses?

• Contact companies and organizations?

• It takes a small village to run the toy drive we are looking for volunteers.

Last holiday season, BlackNLA members, website visitors and corporate contributors teamed up to provide toys, books, games, clothing, toiletries, electronics, CDs, videos, and other suitable gifts to more than 800 children in the LA area. This is a grassroots community program designed to provide gifts for children and teenagers up to age 17. All donations, large and small, put some cheer into the holidays for a child who may otherwise not have received any gift at all.

The recipients Drew Child Development Corporation (Drew CDC), a private, non-profit organization located in South Central Los Angeles, is dedicated to the education, early intervention and the social well being of at-risk children, youth and their families in the metropolitan Los Angeles area. Information is available at http://www.drewcdc.org Heads Up Foundation - is a non-profit foundation that seeks to better the lives of at-risk youth and teens. The goal is to give urban at-risk youth the opportunity to attend college by providing book scholarships to students wishing to further their education. www.headsupfoundationinc.org Let's all work together in making this year's toy drive the most successful ever!!!

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323-295-8223

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7223 S. Main Street Los Angeles, CA 90003

323-758-2733

main@shopwordoflife.com

COMING TO YOUR E-MAIL BOX. Business/Government Contract Opportunities Business In Africa Commentaries/Editorials Financial Management Tech Tools for Growth Mobilization Africa Travel for Business & Pleasure

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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

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A powerful, f l moving i picture i t b book k about b t colorism, self-esteem, and learning that true beauty comes from within.

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It is not wrong to go back for that which you have forgotten.

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earing the call of her ancestors, ten-year-old Ahmyah embarks on a voyage of self-discovery as she reconnects with her grandparents, aunts, uncles, and a host of cousins and other family and friends from halfway around the world, in Ghana, West Africa.

As Ahmyah travels and explores, she

ulwe has skin the color of midnight. She is darker than everyone in her family.

She is darker than anyone in her school.

Sulwe just wants to be beautiful and bright, like her mother and sister. Then a magical journey in the night sky opens her eyes and changes everything.

In this stunning debut picture book, actress Lupita Nyongâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;o creates a whimsical and heartwarming story to inspire children to see their own unique beauty. www.amazon.com/Sulwe-Lupita-Nyongo/ dp/1534425365

learns about her heritage and is filled with love from her family while finding joy in this new adventure. www.thesankofajourney.com/book/

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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

Board Game Brothas www.boardgamebrothas.com www.facebook.com/BGBrothas/ So much of hip hop is about who we are and where we come from. We decided that had to be in this game. As part of the game’s design, we came up with close to 500 “life events” that could happen to an artist going through their career.

We have cards like, “Winning a talent show,” “Selling 35 CDs out of your trunk,” or “West coast tour.” When the game ends you can see exactly how you went from nothing to something.

That to us is what hip hop is all about.

All the games we are working on are clearly related to hip hop culture and black culture.

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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 makeupâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;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 &#x192; www.harpersbazaar.com/beauty/makeup/a22499334/patmcgrath-labs-worth-one-billion/

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Beyoncé's New Adidas Collection

I

f you're in need of cool workout gear or comfy athleisure to lounge around in, who better to design it for you than the Queen B herself?

Beyoncé and Adidas have announced that they're teaming up on a signature collection that includes footwear and apparel.

The best news? Beyoncé will also be relaunching her athleisure line, Ivy Park, with the brand.

According to a press release from Adidas, she will be a creative partner for the brand and work with them to design performance and lifestyle products.

"This is the partnership of a lifetime for me," Beyoncé said in the press release. "Adidas has had tremendous success in pushing creative boundaries. We share a philosophy that puts creativity, growth and social responsibility at the forefront of business. I look forward to relaunching and expanding Ivy Park on a truly global scale with a proven, dynamic leader."

Ivy Park was first introduced in 2016 and was previously sold at Topshop, but after allegations of sexual harassment and bullying surfaced against Topshop chairman Sir Philip Green, Beyoncé ended her partnership with the businessman and bought back her athleisure line from the brand. It's unclear if she did so because of the allegations, but either way, we're about to see Ivy Park in stores again soon.

"Beyoncé is an iconic creator but also a proven business leader, and together, we have the ability to inspire change and empower the next generation of creators," Eric Liedtke, executive board member at Adidas, said in a statement.

No word yet on when the collection is due to drop, but we'll be anxiously awaiting the arrival of Beyoncé x Adidas.  www.msn.com/en-us/lifestyle/lifestyle-buzz/heres-whatwe-know-about-beyoncés-new-adidas-collection/arBVCQFl?ocid=spartandhp

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Black-Owned Watch Brands You Should Make Your Brands MG Media, TBTNEWS

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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 oďŹ&#x20AC;er 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 OďŹ&#x20AC;ers 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 hĆŠps://sued.co.ke www.facebook.com/suedwatches

The Economic Turn Around in the USA is in Our Hands •Buy Products Made or Assembled in the USA •Hire One New Employee •Eat an Extra Meal Out Each Week •Start/Grow a Business to Generate Wealth & Jobs

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This magnificent 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 diversified 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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A database so diners can better find restaurants owned by African Americans.

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VIRTUE RESTAURANT 1462 E 53rd St., Chicago, IL 60615 1-773-947-8831 www.virtuerestaurant.com

Chef Erick Williams

Hospitality is a virtue!

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American Southern Cuisine

Virtue has quickly become one of the best new restaurants in Chicago, earning a threestar review from this criƟc in January (www. chicagotribune.com/dining/ct-food-virtue-restaurant-review0109-story.html).

The accolades didn’t end there; in July 2019, Eater named Virtue one of the best new restaurants in the country, and the New York Times profiled Chef Williams in a story Ɵtled “16 Black Chefs Changing Food in America.” The Chicago Tribune’s Food & Dining Game Changer Award is presented annually to a chef, restaurateur or other industry figure whose work has brought significant, posiƟve change to the restaurant industry as a whole, and to the Chicago dining scene, in parƟcular. The 2019 awardee is Chef Eric Williams for Virtue Restaurant (www.chicagotribune.com/dining/phil-veƩel/

ct-food-game-changer-award-williams-0813-20190813oq6arm7hbbh2xfp23iyhjoorzi-story.html).

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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 motherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;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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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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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.

We can cater for any event or party.We offer custom packaging for all of our cookies and pies to suit any need. Corporate ggifts, company parties, restaurants looking to ooutsource pastries, we're here for you. es.com for online shopping, store locations, sshipping and catering details. Talk to us by ccalling: 1-800-833-4541 or send NJC an inquiry aat: info@notjustcookies.net.

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hen our daughter began to exhibit food allergies naturally, I set out to find the healthy, allergy-friendly snacks we'd need to fuel our family's active lifestyle. I came away from the stores frustrated and mystified. Nothing on the shelves met our dietary needs and my healthy standards. So I set out to create my own. Making allergy-friendly, healthy snacks (from scratch) for my daughter was hard work, but I refused to give up or give in â&#x20AC;&#x201C; and Partake Foods was born. Our products are deliciously made for just about everyone from those with restrictions to those who simply want to eat more healthfully. Find out more about our family and our products at: https://partakefoods.com. Our products are also available via Amazon.com (www.amazon. com partake foods).

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Books to Consider

Books to Consider...

Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know About the People We Don't Know

By Malcolm Gladwell

H

ow did Fidel Castro fool the CIA for a generation? Why did Neville Chamberlain think he could trust Adolf Hitler? Why are campus sexual assaults on the rise?

Do television sitcoms teach us something about the way we relate to each other that isn't true?

Talking to Strangers is a classically Gladwellian intellectual adventure, a challenging and controversial excursion through history, psychology, and scandals taken straight from the news. He revisits the deceptions of Bernie Madoff, the trial of Amanda Knox, the suicide of Sylvia Plath, the Jerry Sandusky pedophilia scandal at Penn State University, and the death of Sandra Bland - throwing our understanding of these and other stories into doubt.

Something is very wrong, Gladwell Malcolm Gladwell argues, with the Business Insider tools and strategies we use to make sense of people we don't know. And because we don't know how to talk to strangers, we are inviting conflict and misunderstanding in ways that have a profound effect on our lives and our world. In his first book since his number one best seller, David

and Goliath, Malcolm Gladwell has written a gripping guidebook for troubled times.  www.amazon.com/Talking-Strangers-Should-About-People/ dp/B07NJCG1XS/ref=sr_1_1?hvadid=77653119867375&h vbmt=be&hvdev=c&hvqmt=e&keywords=talking+with+stran gers+malcolm+gladwell&qid=1569441192&sr=8-1

The Girlfriend's Guide to Closing the Deal

By Melody Spann Cooper

M

elody Spann Cooper is one of the country’s leading female broadcast executives who has mastered the art of Closing the Deal. In her debut book, Girl Friend's Guide to Closing the Deal, she shares her story of finding her voice in a maledominated industry.

In this semi-autobiographical work, Melody uses her special brand of warmth, candor and wit as she shares with readers how they can use their power to enhance opportunities as the highest level.

This is a must-read for entrepreneurs and female executives who want to position themselves as a driving force for change and equity at the Melody Spann table where the deals are done.

Cooper Order Girl Friend's Guide to Closing the Deal at www. melodyspanncooper.com. 

Richard and the Boyz: The Puberty Experience

by Nadine Pierre-Louis, Jason Andre Caffey

168  October 2019  July 2019  Black Business News  www.bbala.org  1-323-291-7819

I

s it "Time for 'THE TALK' with your son? It doesn't have to be awkward!

Use this entertaining and engaging story to get all the important points across. Allow Preeb, age 9, and Pube, age 12, to make it much easier for you.

Follow along with their experiences while they ask the difficult questions. The questions boys don't want to ask but want answered.

Young men will relate to the contemporary jargon and realistic questions and answers in this book. Having the "talk" about puberty can be quite awkward and stressful. When it comes to boys, many fathers can't draw from experience on how to have this conversation because they never got "the talk" themselves. More and more mothers are in a position where they need to give "the talk" but sons are too uncomfortable hearing it from Mom. Richard and the Boyz: Puberty Pub berty t Experience Experien i Boyz: does much of the work for you. As you discuss Preeb and Pube's experiences, you and your child can talk freely without having to make it uncomfortably personal.

Nadine Pierre-Louis

Jason Andre Caffrey

Amazon

averagebro.com

Richard and the Boyz: The Puberty Experience incorporates humor and is written from the perspective of boys talking to each other. Dr. David Richard serves as the arbiter and provider of correct information. He debunks the myths and separates fact from fiction.

While using slang to draw young boys in, he easily includes anatomically correct terms. This book tackles all the common questions facing young men about puberty and their changing bodies.trage, transform the conversation, and inspire debate.  www.amazon.com/Richard-Boyz-Experience-Nadine-

Pierre-Louis/dp/1733027211/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Jason+ Caffey&qid=1569614409&sr=8-1

Defending Frenemies: Alliances, Politics, and Nuclear Nonproliferation in US Foreign Policy

by Jeffrey W. Taliaferro, Ph.D.

T

he United States maintains defense ties with as many as 60 countries, which not only enables its armed forces to maintain command globally and to project its force widely, but also enables its government to exert leverage over allies' foreign policies and military strategies. In Defending Frenemies, Jeffrey W. Taliaferro presents a historical and comparative analysis of how successive US presidential administrations have employed inducements and coercive diplomacy toward Israel, Pakistan, South Korea, and Taiwan over nuclear proliferation.

Taliaferro shows that the ultimate goals in each administration administration, from John F. Kennedy to George H. W. Bush, have been to contain the Soviet Union's influence in the Middle East and South Asia and to enlist China as an ally of convenience against the Soviets in East Asia. Policymakers' inclinations to pursue either accommodative strategies or coercive nonproliferation strategies toward allies Jeffrey W. Taliaferro Amaon.co.uk have therefore been directly linked to these primary objectives. Defending Frenemies is sharp examination of how regional power dynamics and US domestic politics have shaped the nonproliferation strategies the US has pursued toward vulnerable and

169  October 2019  Black Business News  www.bbala.org  1-323-291-7819

Books to Consider often obstreperous allies.

Jeffrey W. Taliaferro is an associate professor of political science at Tufts University. His research and teaching focus on security studies, international relations theory, international history and politics, US foreign policy, intelligence, and national security.  https://global.oup.com/academic/product/defendingfrenemies-9780190939311?cc=us&lang=en&

Red at the Bone: A Novel

by Jacqueline Woodson

M

oving forward and backward in time, Jacqueline Woodson's taut and powerful new novel uncovers the role that history and community have played in the experiences, decisions, and relationships of these families, and in the life of the new child.

As the book opens in 2001, it is the evening of sixteen-year-old Melody's coming of age ceremony in her grandparents' Brooklyn brownstone.

Watched lovingly by her relatives and friends, making her entrance to the music of Prince, she wears a special custom-made dress. But the event is not without poignancy. Sixteen years earlier, that very dress was measured and sewn for a different wearer: Melody's mother, for her own ceremony-- a celebration that ultimately never took place.

Unfurling the history of Melody's parents and grandparents to show how they all arrived at this moment, Woodson considers not just their ambitions and successes but also the costs, the tolls they've paid for Jacqueline Woodson

striving to overcome expectations and escape the pull of history. As it explores sexual desire and identity, ambition, gentrification, education, class and status, and the life-altering facts of parenthood, Red at the Bone most strikingly looks at the ways in which young people must so often make long-lasting decisions about their lives--even before they have begun to figure out who they are and what they want to be.  www.amazon.com/gp/product/0525535276/ ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0Obioma/ dp/0316412392

Tough Love: My Story of the Things Worth Fighting For

by Susan Rice

M

other, wife, scholar, diplomat, and fierce champion of American interests and values, Susan Rice powerfully connects the personal and the professional. Taught early, with tough love, how to compete and excel as an African American woman in settings where people of color are few, Susan now shares the wisdom she learned along the way.

Laying bare the family struggles that shaped her early life in Washington, DC, she also examines the ancestral legacies that influenced her.

Rice’s elders— immigrants on one side and descendants of slaves on the other—had had high expectations that each generation would rise. And rise they did, but not without paying it forward—in uniform and in the pulpit, as educators, community leaders, and public servants.

Susan too rose rapidly. She served throughout the Clinton administration, becoming one of the nation’s youngest assistant secretaries of state and, later, one of President Obama’s most trusted advisors.

Rice provides an insider’s account of some of the most complex issues confronting the United States over three decades, ranging from “Black Hawk Down” in Somalia to the genocide in Rwanda and the East

Pinquin Random House Speakers Bureau

170  October 2019  Black Business News  www.bbala.org  1-323-291-7819

Books to Consider Africa embassy bombings in the late 1990s, and from conflicts in Libya and Syria to the Ebola epidemic, a secret channel to Iran, and the opening to Cuba during the Obama years. With unmatched insight and characteristic bluntness, she reveals previously untold stories behind recent national security challenges, including confrontations with Russia and China, the war against ISIS, the struggle to contain the fallout from Edward Snowden’s NSA leaks, the U.S. response to Russian interference in the 2016 election, and the surreal transition to the Trump administration.

Although you might think you know Susan Rice— whose name became synonymous with Benghazi following her Sunday news show appearances after the deadly 2012 terrorist attacks in Libya—now, through these pages, you truly will know her for the first time.

Often mischaracterized by both political opponents and champions, Rice emerges as neither a villain nor a victim, but a strong, resilient, compassionate leader.

Intimate, sometimes humorous, but always candid, Tough Love makes an urgent appeal to the American public to bridge our dangerous domestic divides in order to preserve our democracy and sustain our global leadership.  www.amazon.com/Tough-Love-Story-Things-Fighting/ dp/1501189972

Letters from an Astrophysicist

by Neil deGrasse Tyson

A

strophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson has attracted one of the world’s largest online followings with his fascinating, widelyy accessible insights into g science and our universe.

Now, Tyson invites us to go behind the scenes of his public fame by revealing his correspondence with people across the globe who have sought him out in search of answers. In this hand-picked collection of 101 letters, Tyson draws upon cosmic perspectives to address a vast array of questions about science, faith, philosophy, life, and of course, Pluto. His

Neil deGrasse Tyson Pinquin Random House Speakers Bureau

succinct, opinionated, passionate, and often funny responses reflect his popularity and standing as a leading educator.

Tyson’s 2017 bestseller Astrophysics for People in a Hurry offered more than one million readers an insightful and accessible understanding of the universe. Tyson’s most candid and heartfelt writing yet, Letters from an Astrophysicist introduces us to a newly personal dimension of Tyson’s quest to explore

our place in the cosmos.  www.amazon.com/Letters-Astrophysicist-Neil-deGrasseTyson/dp/1324003316/ref=sr_1_2?crid=1HM4KZTRMHS 0C&keywords=neil+degrasse+tyson+book&qid=15705094 32&s=books&sprefix=neil+de+gr%2Cstripbooks%2C186& sr=1-2

Debt Free Degree

by Anthony ONeal

E

very parent wants the best for their kid. That’s why they encourage them to go to college! But most parents aren’t in a position to pay for their kid’s college, so they end up turning to student loans.

The average graduate walks away with $35,000 in student loan debt and no clue how much that debt will actually cost them. But there’s a different way!

In his new book, national bestselling author and Ramsey Personality Anthony ONeal teaches parents how to help their kid pay for college without debt, even if they haven’t saved for it. This is a step-by-step plan that combines common

171  October 2019  Black Business News  www.bbala.org  1-323-291-7819

sense and honest humor. It’s not some stuffy “how-to” guide, but a book you’ll actually enjoy reading!

Debt-Free Degree doesn’t just tell you what to do.

It also tells you why to do it, how to do it, and when to do it.

It will show you how to cash flow your kid’s college education and what to do at each stage from middle school to high school. It will also teach you about scholarships, grants and free community colleges.

Debt-Free Degree will also teach you: • How to prepare your kid for college.

• Which classes your kid should take in high school.

• When your kid should take the ACT and SAT. • How to do college visits the right way.

• Why it’s important to choose a major.

A college education is supposed to prepare your kid for their future, not rob them of their paycheck for decades. Debt-Free Degree shows parents how to help their kid pay for college without student loans and set them up for financial success..  www.anthonyoneal.com/store/product/debt-free-degreebook

Becoming: A Guided Journal for Discovering Your Voice

by Michelle Obama

W

hat’s your journey of becoming? Based on Michelle Obama’s bestselling memoir, this gorgeous journal features an intimate and inspiring introduction by the former First Lady and more than 150 inspiring questions and quotes to help you discover—and rediscover—your story.

“It’s not about being perfect. It’s not about where you get yourself in the end. There’s power in allowing yourself to be known and heard, in owning your unique story, in using your authentic voice.

And there’s grace in being willing to know and hear others. This, for me, is how we become.” — Michelle Obama In writing Becoming, a work of deep reflection and mesmerizing storytelling, Michelle Obama shared her own extraordinary journey to help create space for others to tell their stories and to give people the courage to discover the power of their own voice. With this journal, she now provides you with the encouragement to find

value in your own personal journey of becoming.

Printed on cream writing paper, with a grosgrain ribbon, foilstamped cover, and removable half-jacket, Becoming: A Guided Journal for Discovering Your Voice includes thoughtp r o v o k i n g prompts designed to help you reflect on your personal and family history; your goals, challenges, and dreams; what moves you and brings you hope; and what future you imagine for yourself and your community. Writes Mrs. Obama in the Introduction to the Becoming journal, “I hope you’ll use this journal to write down your experiences, thoughts, and feelings, in all their imperfections, and without judgment. . . . We don’t have to remember everything.

But everything we remember has value.”

These pages will help you capture your own voice and journey so you can nurture your sense of belonging.

Inside, you’ll find an opportunity not only to take heart in the experiences that brought you to where you are today, but also to feel empowered to take those next steps, wherever they might lead.  www.amazon.com/Becoming-Guided-Journal-DiscoveringVoice/dp/0593139127

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Resource Vault Information Africa is a Country -- www.africasacountry.com\ Africa World Press Books -www.africaworldpressbooks.com Because Of Them We Can -- www.becauseofthem wecan.com Black Children's Books and Authors -http://blackchildrensbooksandauthors.tumblr. com Black Hollywood Education and Resource Center -- (https://bherc.org) Black Then -- https://blackthen.com BlackPast.org -- www.blackpost.org Digital Assets Repository -http://dar.bibalex.org/webpages/dar.jsf Elders (The) -- https://theelders.org GhanaWeb -- www.ghanaweb.com iAfrica -- www.iafrica.com Marques Brownlee (@MKBHD) -www.youtube.com/user/marquesbrownlee WikiHow -- www.wikihow.com World Library -- www.worldlibrary.org

Media 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 News & Stories -- http://africatodaytv.com Africa Newsroom -- www.africa-newsroom.com Africa World Now Project -www.africaworldnowproject.org Africanews. -- www.africanews.com The Africapitalist -www.tonyelumelufoundation.org/africapitalisminstitute/africapitalist-magazine AfricaFocus -- www.africafocus.org The African World -- www.theafricanworld.tv African American Reports -www.africanamericanreports.com Afritorial -- www.afritorial.com www.facebook.com/Afritorial AllAfrica (news) -- http://allafrica.com Bibi-Writes -- https://bibiwrites.com Black Business Directory & Blog -www.blackbusiness.org BlackNews.com -- www.blacknews.com Black Press USA -- www.blackpressusa.com

Blavity Inc. -- www.blavity.com The Chocolate Voice -www.thechocolatevoice.com Crisis Magazine (NAACP) -- www. thecrisismagazine.com Cybrary -- www.cybrary.it Dogon Village -- www.dogonvillage.com Face2Face Africa -- https://face2faceafrica.com Informaza - www.infomaza.com Macauhub -- www.facebook.com/Macauhub ReachTV -- www.reachtv.com Red Media Africa -www.facebook.com/RedMedi aAfrica Rock Me Africa -- //rockmeafrica.com Roland Martin Unfiltered -#RolandMartinUnfiltered Second Opinion Publications Ltd (The) -- www. facebook.com/thesecondopinion TONL -- https://tonl.co/ United Nations -- http://webtv.un.org

Media/Podcasts, Streams 2 Dope Queens -- www.wnycstudios.org/shows/ dopequeens African Literary Podcast -- www.jamesmurua.com/ category/african-literary-podcas Africast TV -- www.africast.tv 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 Focus On Africa -- https://theafricachannel.com/ shows/bbc-focus-on-africa James Murua's Literary Blog -- www.jamesmurua. com KweliTV -- www.facebook.com/kwelitv Paychecks and Balances -- https://paychecksand balances.com Point Noir -- www.instagram.com/pointnoirshow Popcorn Finance Podcast -- https://popcornfinance. com/podcast UN Video -- https://videos.un.org/en YouTube Educational Channels -- http://teacherswithapps.com/197-educational-youtube-channels-know

Media/Publications African Trade Magazine -www.africantrademagazine.com African Vibes Magazine -- www.africanvibes.com Black Business News Group -www.issuu.com/blackbusinessnews Black Wall Street Times -- http://bwstimes.com BridesNoir -- www.bridesnoir.com CuisineNoir -- www.cuisinenoirmag.com

176  October 2019  Black Business News  www.bbala.org  1-323-291-7819

MahoganyBooks -http://blog.mahoganybooks.com/ New Black Magazine (The) -www.thenewblackmagazine.com Publish Africa -- http://wow.gm/publishafrica

Culture/Arts Asako Afrikan Combat Capoeira -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 Because of Them We Can -www.becauseofthemwecan.com Black Cultural Events -www.blackculturalevents.com Cultural Events/Content -- www.okayafrica.com Fashion For All -- www.fashionforallnyc.org 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 NKA: Journal of Contemporary African Art -www.nkajournal.org 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 CEO Tribe -- www.blackceotribe.com Black Female Founders -www.blackfemalefounders.org Black People Eats -- www.blackpeopleeats.com Black Wall Street -- www.blackwallstreet.org Black Wealth 2020 -- www.blackwealth2020.com 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 Africa's Brain Bank -www.facebook.com/ AFRICASBRAINBANK / 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 Colorintech -- www.colorintech.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

General Explore ideas -- https://ideas.ted.com Quora -- www.quora.com The Undefeated -- https://theundefeated.com

U.S. Government Commerce Department -- www.doc.gov International Trade Administration -http://trade.gov see page 178

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Resource Vault 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

BBA 2019 Master Planner

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