Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) are known for their rigorous academics, unparalleled marching bands and an unimaginable culturally-awakening experience for African American students. Especially now, as the country has exposed racial profiling and prejudice (again), protecting these safe spaces is essential.
For decades, most of the nations leading Black professionals including Black doctors, lawyers, attorneys, dentists, social workers and educators proudly hail from HBCU campuses. But, while Black colleges develop the nation’s leading Black STEM, corporate, and political leaders, it fails to attract the likes of top Black Athletes, who flock to Division 1, “Big 10” schools, with a proven pipeline of heading to professional sports leagues.
100% of these schools are predominantly white institutions (PWIs). PWIs were not originally created to include African Americans, and some in fact, didn’t allow Black students to enroll! As undeniable as Black athletic talent is, this began to change, and present day, Blacks make up the majority of these “ivy-league” PWIs basketball, football and other sports teams.
Mo Williams, former National Basketball Association (NBA) player announced earlier this year that he would be taking on a new role as the men’s head basketball coach at Alabama State University tweeted his thoughts on how to “#ChangeTheGame”
Silent protest, pull your kids out of these D1 schools and enroll them in a HBCU. We talking about change. Don’t talk about it, be about it. I’m at Alabama State and can do exactly what they can and more for your son. Point blank period…. #changethegame
Williams also followed up with another tweet where he included the hashtag, “#HBCUonly.”
Power 5 conferences is only power 5 because we give them the power. Let’s not talk about it, be about it. We can actually make a real change. #hbcuonlypic.twitter.com/kO4rh7acKb
Black colleges are long overdue to be the hubs for producing top Black athletes. This year, one of the top Black athletes, Trace Young, made an unprecedented move to only pursue Black colleges. He will be training on Williams’ team next year at Alabama State University and we hope this is the beginning of a new trend.
Racial prejudice, lynchings and unsubstantiated murders were still the reality of Black men, women and children in the early 1900s, before then, and since then. 99 years later, one can still question if much has changed, especially because less than a week ago, George Floyd, an unarmed, non-resisting Black man begging for his mother and screaming “I can’t breathe,” was murdered, by white men …in broad daylight.
In 1919, Black soldiers returned from World War I, expecting racial progress, after sacrificing their lives for their country. This was not the case. Black people were deemed “good enough” to defend the frontline of a war but were apparently not good enough to be treated with equality…even in their own communities!
Black Wall Street
Greenwood at a glance
In 1905, African Americans acquired over 40-acres of land in Tulsa, Oklahoma and it became the Greenwood District. By the 1920s, this settlement of Black people in this community, earned the nickname of “Black Wall Street,” because the community was a visual of Black excellence. Greenwood boasted more than 300 black owned businesses, which included 30 restaurants, 45 grocery and meat markets, 21 restaurants, 21 churches, 2 theaters, banks, barbershops, real estate agents, dry cleaners, milliners, dental offices, hotels, doctor offices, pharmacists a hospital, private airplanes and even its own school system. Historians marvel at how the dollar would stay within “Greenwood” between 36 to 100 times, and would remain within the district over a year before it even left the community. To this day, this type of circulation has not been replicated.
This African American community was thriving. And because it was thriving, it was destroyed. In 2016, to Mechelle Brown, director of programs at the Greenwood Cultural Center, shared that white people in Tulsa, Oklahoma made remarks like ” ‘How dare these negroes have a grand piano in their house and I don’t have a piano in my house’.”
Page and Rowland
Tensions were rising and they peaked the day a 17-year-old white girl named Sarah Page who worked as an elevator operator claimed that 19-year-old Black Dick Rowland, assaulted her. Following this, although Rowland used the elevator just about every day, he ran.
Historical accounts of the incidents reflect 2 stories: the first being the aforementioned, the second claiming: Rowland stumbled as he was leaving the elevator and grabbed Page’s arm as he was leaving, and as she screamed, an onlooker went to authorities.
Both accounts report that Page did not press charges, but unsurprisingly, by the end of the day, the incident morphed into “Page was raped.” Rowland was later arrested. At the courthouse where Rowland was being held, Black and white men met, shots were fired, and the worst race massacre in history began.
In less than 24 hours, 35 city square blocks were burned to ash and more than 1,200 houses were demolished. Historians recount that African American bodies lined the streets. 300 people died and thousands more were injured.
This is not a story that is taught in school or even widely included in history books. Even less known, is the fact that with 365 days following the deadliest race riot in history, by 1922, Greenwood made great strides to reestablish itself, returning more than 80 businesses, that later thrived even through the Great Depression. The area became well known for jazz ans music.
2020
Today, oppression may look different, but it still exists, and this is one of the reasons why the world is protesting and rioting and evening looting.
Black people are tired. We are hurt. We are in pain. Pain does not always make sense, and this is not an excuse or justification for everything transpiring present day, rather, insight. We demand justice for George Floyd, and we demand change in the treatment of African American people, especially Black men.
If our ancestors were back up and running, in the early 1900s, after being burned to ash, we are more than capable!
Howard University engineering student Aaron James “AJ” Sutton has passed away and we are sending our prayers and heartfelt condolences to the Sutton family. Sutton was fatally shot Thursday, May 28th. A GoFundMe account that has been arranged to assist with his AJ’s final resting plans shares:
We are devastated to announce that our beloved son, brother, uncle, cousin, and friend- Aaron James Sutton is no longer with us. “AJ,” as he was affectionately known, was a charismatic, brilliant, driven, young man. He was extremely talented; he was exceptional in music, dance, and art. Not only was he gifted in the arts, but his creativity carried over into being innovative, inventive, and mathematically gifted. As a result, he had a great deal of knowledge and intellect that allowed him to excel in his studies to pursue an engineering degree at Howard University; he just completed his freshman year. AJ was a family man; he was extremely protective, caring and loving when it came to his mother, sisters, nieces, nephews, cousins and friends. His life was senselessly cut short when he was murdered on May 28, 2020. His death left our family and friends completely distraught; words cannot fully describe the shock and horror of hearing that AJ had suddenly passed in such a violent manner. While we are deeply saddened by his passing, we are so grateful to have had nineteen special years with this bright young man.
Due to his unexpected death, his mother, Wanda Sutton, and sisters are plagued with the task of raising money to pay his funeral costs, and planning funeral arrangements. We understand that these are hard times for most, but we would appreciate whatever you can give during these strenuous times. We thank you for your thoughts, love, and support during this difficult time.
Official details of how AJ passed are still being awaited.
Student organizations at Howard University (HU) offer their condolences. HU’s ‘Womxn of Revolt’ shares, “Today we lost a member of our Howard community. AJ Sutton was only 19 and was killed in a shooting last night. He was only a freshman, but had ambition and plans for his future that were tragically cut short. Everyone please send thoughts and prayers to AJ’s friends and family.”
Howard University’s ‘March For Our Lives’ shares, “Our thoughts and prayers go out to to the friends and family of Aaron “AJ” Sutton. AJ, 19, was shot and killed last night on May 28th in Baltimore. He was a freshman at Howard University in the College of Engineering. AJ had plans of becoming an engineer and pursuing a rap career. AJ looked at attending Howard as a way to better himself and get out of the system that his peers and people in his neighborhood were so accustomed to.“
The student government association, Howard University Student Association (HUSA) issued the following statement about the loss of their fellow Bison:
We are heartbroken by the loss of HU ‘23 student AJ Sutton. We mourn for him, his family, his friends and our community.
Fly high, AJ 🖤 We won’t forget you.
— Howard University Student Association (@HUSAssociation) May 30, 2020
Sutton’s GoFundme account has generated donations from more than 1,000 people and has raised over $24,000, already surpassing its original goal of $16,000, in less than 24 hours.
We are standing by for developments on the story of this devastating loss, please stay tuned.
Centuries of pinned-up anger has been unlocked after the world watch the 8min 46sec murder of George Floyd. He was not resisting. He was not aggressive. The 46-year-old man was pleading for his life, screaming for his mother and sharing how he could not breathe.
None of this stopped Derek Chauvin and 3 of his fellow officers, from murdering George. People across the world —Black people especially— are tired of the racist nonsense. Riots, looting, and protests are the daily reality in the days following this senseless situation. Chauvin is the only officer that has been arrested the world is outraged and it demands justice. Now!
Creator: Evan Vucci | Credit: APCopyright: Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved
If you find yourself or those you love arrested or apprehended, here is a list of resources of safe havens, bail funds, lawyers working free-of-charge and other helpful resources:
No, but offering pro bono services for those arrested at protests
https://www.rbrioneslaw.com
Tulsa, OK
Jason Spanich, PC
—
—
405-236-0115
No, but offering pro bono services for those arrested at protests
https://jasonspanich.com
RACISM RESOURCE GUIDE
For a comprehensive guide to understanding racism, how to properly teach about racism, a list of books about racism and gaining a history lesson about racism, click here.
Two students—Messiah Young from Morehouse and Taniyah Pilgrim from Spelman—were snatched out of a car, tased and arrested by Atlanta police on live television. Officers were seen smashing the windows of the car before tasing and forcefully pulling both students from inside. Witnesses say police also slashed the vehicle’s tires.
It’s unclear what happened that led to this point, but we believe the officers were enforcing the city-wide curfew, established by Mayor Keisha Lance-Bottoms. Pilgrim has since been released, Young is still in custody.
A GoFundMe for bail has been created. Click here to support. The page has raised more than $25,000 of its original $5,000 goal in less than a few hours.
Messiah Young has been discharged from the hospital after suffering an epileptic seizure last night. Young has a lawyer and his court hearing is scheduled for 2pm.
UPDATE: As of Sunday May 31 5pm EST, reports from the family indicate Messiah Young has been released.
BOWIE STATE – Two international educators with strong backgrounds in delivering life-changing study abroad experiences for college students have joined Bowie State University’s revamped International Office, boosting the global engagement for Maryland’s first historically black university.
Named the new director of international education and services, Qimmah Najeeullah is a seasoned international education leader, who is committed to diversifying America’s image abroad and increasing African Americans’ participation in global affairs. Patrick Frazier, named the study abroad coordinator, has more than 15 years of experience of opening doors to opportunity to students to study abroad.
“For the first time in our history, BSU is looking forward to building a solid infrastructure for our international students and providing experiential learning opportunities for domestic students abroad,” said interim Provost Judith Kirkpatrick. “Our international students are being challenged, and we must surround them with the support needed for them to remain a growing and vital part of our campus community. At the same time, we want to be prepared to offer the very best study abroad opportunities to our students.”
The BSU International Office now coordinates all of the university’s international engagement efforts to include exchange and study abroad programs, student recruiting and admissions, and support for international students. As director, Najeeullah will provide a foundation of success for international students and develop new initiatives to strengthen the university’s international education and outreach efforts. Her work will deepen engagement of BSU students and faculty with educational and career development partners around the world.
Most recently, Najeeullah served as director of the International Student Exchange & Visitor Program at Morgan State University, where she instituted its first recruiting efforts in Asia and facilitated visa petitions for international faculty and staff. She was also a university Fulbright Scholars Liaison, promoting the prestigious international education scholarship program to students and faculty. In addition, she has served on selection committees for multiple international scholarship programs, including the Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leadership program. She is a past recipient of the J. William Fulbright Foreign International Educator Fellowship and the Fulbright-Hays Faculty Research Award.
Najeeullah holds a master’s degree in international peace and conflict resolution from American University and bachelor’s degree in art history, with a minor in Portuguese language, from the University of Maryland. She is completing a doctoral degree in international education policy from the University of Maryland.
Frazier will manage all of the university’s study abroad activities, expand international education programming and advise faculty and students on international travel protocols. He will also establish centralized recruitment, application, enrollment and evaluation processes for all study abroad programs.
Frazier joins BSU after serving as an international student advisor at the University of Maryland, where he worked with exchange students who spent a semester or year in the United States. At Loyola University, he served as the assistant director for international programs, implementing six study abroad programs for about 100 students per year to include travel to Italy, Singapore, Belgium and Australia. As study abroad director at Quinnipiac University, he established semester study abroad programs in several countries, as well as a specialized study abroad program for nursing and education students.
Frazier holds a master’s degree from the American University in Cairo and a bachelor’s degree from Georgetown University.
Multi-talented megastar Beyonce Giselle Knowles-Carter is using her platform to aid in the demand of justice for George Floyd. In her latest Instagram post, Knowles-Carter shares a video with a heartfelt message and a caption that reads If you want to demand more charges brought on all those involved in the death of George Floyd, click the link in my bio to sign the petition.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CA0FwWHn0NS/
“We need justice for George Floyd, we all witnessed his murder in broad daylight. We’re broken and we’re discussed. We cannot normalize this pain. I’m not only speaking to people of color. If you’re white Black, brown, or anything in between, I’m sure you feel hopeless by the racism going on in America right now. No more senseless killing of human beings. No more seeing people of colors as less than human. We can no longer look away. George is all of our family in humanity. He’s our family because he’s a fellow American. There have been too many times that we’ve seen these violent killings and no consequences. Yes someone’s been charged but justice is far from being achieved. Please sign the petition and continue to pray for peace, compassion and healing for our country. Thank you so much.”
Senseless killings of African Americans are unfortunately not new. Now that the world saw how an officer disgustingly killed a man begging for help and helplessly uttering “I can’t breathe…everything hurts,” in broad daylight, for no reason, it is our hope that we are on the way to significant change.
The German Bundesliga returned on May 16 th after a two-month hiatus occasioned by the unforgiving Covid-19 pandemic. It presented a moment of reality, a preview of what other returning elite leagues might look like. Minor leagues like the Nicaragua and Belarus never really took a break, but with all fairness, it just wasn’t what the world of football would pay top dollar to watch. Played in empty stadiums, minimal contact, and social distancing, just what does the return of Bundesliga and the football’s new reality look like?
Quarantined before matches
Prior to the restart, all Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2 sides had to assure authorities that they would meet all necessary guidelines of curbing the Coronavirus spread within their camps. Players had been quarantined in selected hotels for 14 days, with regular examinations taking place in all team camps.
Separate buses, face masks, temperature checks, kits change
Teams arrived in several buses, each carrying only a few players seated at considerable distances off each other. Players would be seen leaving their respective buses wearing face masks, and notably, there was no room for the traditional bromance and shoulder holding among players.
Nothing looked ordinary, even to the players who found themselves completely lost in the new normal. Temperature checks were administered by medical personnel on every individual within the stadium, balls were sanitized before kickoff and at halftime, and players had to change to new kits at halftime. Empty stadiums meant only individuals offering football essentials (medical personnel, media, security, and safety) were allowed in. There were cops on patrol in and around stadiums to ensure that no groups formed within the vicinity.
Socially-distanced subs and coaches
Substitutes found themselves in unfamiliar grounds, resting a few meters apart, and wearing masks. The usual player-to-player low-tone conversations were conspicuously missing, with only coaches allowed to do without masks for purposes of shouting instructions to their charges. Substitutes only removed their masks to warm up, and would receive new masks on their way to the bench.
No hugs for goals
All Saturday games started at a pedestrian pace, understandably due to rustiness among players, as well as players practicing too much caution. The Paderborn vs Wolfsburg tie looked like a training session, but when the goals came, something was different.
The thrill of finding the back of the net was still present among the scorers and teammates, but simple elbow bumps and fist knocks replaced hugs. As expected, some players found themselves overwhelmed by the joy of scoring, but they would quickly be reminded by colleagues to tone it down.
Hertha Berlin crushed Hoffenheim 3-0 on the evening, and somehow, Hertha players found themselves celebrating normally. It wasn’t their fault though; they’ll be forgiven for overachieving.
Applauding empty terraces
Who else saw that? Whether teams were playing by the script or not, it was weird to see them clapping to an empty stadium. It could be a spontaneous act, but still, it didn’t look normal.
No one knows for how long things will remain this weird, but fans of other leagues should be prepared to put up with the new way of doing things. If there is a way you can create your own stadium experience watching a televised match, you will be doing yourself a lot of justice. The silence around these stadiums will be sickening.
“Please I can’t breathe” yells George Floyd. These are the last words of an African American man who died, handcuffed, as a white Minneapolis police officer pinned him down with his knee to Floyd’s neck in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Onsite onlookers were more than distraught as his lifeless body was lifted into an ambulance as he was later taken to Hennepin County Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. The incident took place late on Monday, police confirmed. Floyd is believed to be in his 40s.
Video of the incident shows the police officer pinning down George Floyd, believed to be in his 40s, to the pavement with his knee on the man’s neck for several minutes. Floyd was identified by prominent civil rights lawyer Ben Crump, who said he had been retained by the Floyd family.
Floyd responds: “I can’t breathe. Please, the knee in my neck.”
The officer continues to hold down Floyd with his knee for several minutes, with Floyd pleading and asking for water.
“My stomach hurts. My neck hurts. Please, please. I can’t breathe,” Floyd cries out, while moaning and trying to cough.
Floyd eventually appears motionless under the officer’s knee. Those who were watching the incident unfold can be heard begging police to move off Floyd.
“He’s not f****** moving,” an onlooker can be heard saying. “Get off of his f****** neck.”
Minneapolis Mayor Frey called the incident “wrong on every level”.A Facebook post he shared reads, “Being black in America should not be a death sentence.”
Since the fatal incident, four officers have been terminated. On Tuesday morning, protesters marched 2 miles from the incident location on Chicago Avenue to the Minneapolis Police Department’s 3rd Precinct building. Floyd’s other half Courteney Ross says,“He stood up for people, he was there for people when they were down, he loved people that were thrown away,” Ross said.
“We prayed over every meal, we prayed if we were having a hard time, we prayed if we were having a good time.”
“He was the type of guy he was friendly to everybody. He didn’t discriminate, whether you were hispanic, you were black, you were white, he treated everybody with respect and that’s what I love about him,” says Floyd’s manager Jovanni Thunstrom, a local business owner.
Civil rights attorney Ben Crump has been retained by the Floyd family. Crump joined “TMZ Live” Tuesday to express the shock, outrage and sadness so many are feeling following the incident. Along with representing Floyd’s family, Crump is a lawyer for Ahmaud Arbery’s family and he’s the renowned civil rights attorney who also worked with Trayvon Martin’s in 2012 and countless other unjustified, unsubstantiated killings of Black men.
As of Tuesday evening, protesters have surrounded a Minneapolis Police precinct demanding justice.
The 9th President of Claflin University Dr. Dwaun J. Warmack shares a letter about the upcoming semester:
Dear Students,
We have concluded our Spring 2020 semester and I want to thank you for persevering through this challenging transition. We remain an institution still devoted and committed to providing a high-quality education. While we are still challenged by COVID-19, I am writing to calm your fears regarding the reopening of the University for the 2020 Fall Semester.
I have appointed a Reopening Task Force consisting of students, faculty and staff who have been (virtually) meeting regularly to focus on our path forward. This task force will present various recommendations of possible scenarios for reopening the University and as an administration we will work towards the best solution for Claflin University.
I am highly optimistic and hopeful that Claflin will resume face-to-face instruction at some point in the fall. Our goal is the safety of our campus community and we are exploring all facets of operation. In the meantime, please continue to exercise safety precautions as recommended by federal, state and local officials.
I am thankful to our dynamic faculty, staff and students for flexibility and support as we deliberate our next steps to safely reopening our beautiful campus on hilltop high. More detailed campus reopening will be shared in June (or the coming weeks).
We pray that each of you and your family remain healthy and safe. Have a blessed summer break.
Higher education recruitment firm Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges (AGB Search) has been enlisted to find the next president for West Virginia State University (WVSU). Anthony Jenkins, who held the job for four years, recently moved on to the president’s role at Coppin State University in Baltimore. R. Charles Byers, former provost at WVSU, is serving as interim president. AGB Search consultants Kim Bobby and Carlton E. Brown are leading the assignment.
The Washington, D.C. search firm was chosen from six firms seeking the assignment.
“The next president has an opportunity to lead WVSU to new levels of institutional achievement and distinction, in part by building on the legacy of the institution and the existing strengths and accomplishments,” said AGB Search.
A Critical Time
The ideal leader will bring both stable leadership and dynamic changes to the university at a critical time in its history, said AGB Search. WVSU wants a leader who will embrace and foster the rich heritage and identity of the university as a historically black college or university that has transformed to meet the needs of the community. The next president will be expected to demonstrate a commitment to the university’s historical focus on the values of diversity, equity, inclusion, sustainability, civic engagement and social justice.
The university community outlined several priorities for the school’s next president. They involve: enrollment, fundraising, financial health, developing a new leadership team, rebuilding student life and development, improving the efficacy of academic programs, addressing issues of diversity and inclusion, and community and engagement.
WVSU wants its next president to possess a number of key leadership attributes, including having the vision, capability and drive to inspire the university community to higher levels of eminence, said AGB Search. The leader should also demonstrate value for WVSU’s history and have the ability to embrace and advance the historical significance, mission and core values of the university as a historically black institution. Among other traits, the president must also be visible and approachable, participating in activities on campus and the local community with genuine engagement.
Key Requirements
Prospects should also have demonstrated success in senior-level leadership that includes management of a substantial and complex organization, along with a deep understanding of higher education. “The successful candidate will be an energetic innovator who can be a valuable resource in helping the university develop attractive new programs,” said the search firm. Read the full article in the Hunts Canlon Media.
NORTH CAROLINA A&T STATE – Second Lt. Kristofer Grimes is the personification of “Aggie Born and Bred.”
He represents the third generation of the Grimes family commissioned in the U.S. Air Force Reserved Officers Training Corps (ROTC) at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University.
Grimes, who finished his senior year at his eastern North Carolina home because of COVID-19 restrictions, will use his electrical engineering degree to pilot remote aircrafts.
At his virtual commissioning ceremony, his father, retired Lt. Col. Kenneth K. Grimes, spoke about the military traditions of his family.
Kristofer’s grandfather, Clifton Grimes, was commissioned from A&T in 1954. He was stationed in Michigan, then Japan and spent some time recruiting students to A&T before separating from the Air Force in the late ’50’s.
His father, Kenneth, who also commissioned at A&T, was his Junior Reserve Officer’s Training Corps (JROTC) aerospace science instructor in high school and encouraged him to pursue military ambitions.
“I took him to the A&T detachment when he was in junior high and showed him the pictures of me and his grandfather up on the wall. You could see the light in his face,” Kenneth said . “Kris embodies the Air Force’s core values of integrity, service before self and excellence in all that he does.”
Not only does the military blood run in the family, so does the Aggie Pride. Of Kenneth’s four children who all graduated from college, three are A&T alumni.
“Our whole family and even our extended family have been at A&T,” Kristofer Grimes said. “Everybody I’ve ever really been around was an Aggie. I had so much support here and it was the best pick for me.”
That support got him through his years at A&T with his sister and family friends in the area while he was away from home.
“For us, Aggie Pride is not just a catchphrase, it’s a way of life,” Kenneth said. “Kris has continued our legacy, and we are very proud of him.”
In these times of uncertainty, many people have begun working at home due to the novel coronavirus pandemic. The change in setting is new. But some of these people are enjoying the luxury of working at home, keeping the faith for better days.
School is over. The daycare is closed. Camps are scrapped off. Parents need a break from it all, especially after a long day of work on zoom meetings and occasional interruptions from the kids. Joose drinks, founded in 2017, might be the thing that you’re looking for to help you unwind and relax.
Central State University graduate André Lloyd said it came to him as a way to make extra money for his upcoming wedding at the time when asked about how Joose drinks were started. “I hadn’t seen many people in the Columbus, Ohio area making ‘adult Capri suns.’ So I launched Joose drinks,” he told HBCU Buzz via email, adding “I have always enjoyed making drinks and experimenting with different flavors, so I decided to test a few out and the rest is history.”
Joose drinks have since become popular among strangers and friends. The road to success is a bumpy ride though. However, the black college graduate noted his background in customer service and attention to detail for aiding him in smoothing the kinks during his journey. For those wanting to take advantage of their downtime during this quarantine craziness and create something, he added just staying true to what he knows and his consumer base helps too.
Of what is attractive to consumers in purchasing items from Joose drinks, Lloyd said “The people love the product — just learning and listening to my consumer feedback has been key in keeping a good core base.” He continued, “I think most people love the convenience of the pouches as they’re very easy to travel with, are reusable, and hold a lot for the amount.”
“Also I have popsicles, can make it by the half-gallon, and gallon size featuring new and exciting flavors. So being able to cater to those needs of my consumers is important to me and I think it is what makes my brand unique.”
Joose drinks
When asked about the black college experience and how CSU impacted his life personally and professionally, Lloyd said the biggest thing that life on the yard taught him was how to adapt to any situation as well as how to network. “I used those skills to start making more money for myself and am expanding more and more,” he said.
A “good buzz” for the Summertime
For the Spring and Summer, Lloyd has a blue raspberry lemonade (Bad & Boozie), which has been a #1 seller for the past year. He has a fan favorite Long Island Iced Tea (Quaran-Tea), affectionately named as a play on words during this pandemic. He also has an Orange Peach Lemonade (Just Peachy) in stock. Lloyd told us that these flavors are all super fun and good, and have a good buzz for the Summertime, and so far his consumer base loves them.
“In the next 5-10 years I see myself opening a food truck (I love to cook as well) and merging my juice drinks brand with my food truck and seeing where that will take me,” Lloyd said, adding “I just love being creative and finding new ways to express that. I also love to see people enjoying good food with good drinks and I believe that’s my passion.”
The sky’s the limit for Joose drinks. Lloyd already shared with us that one of his biggest achievements while on this journey was meeting up with a local restaurant owner a year ago and having her try his Joose drinks and networking. “And also being able to create another avenue of income to help support me and my family,” he said.
Forbes‘ Hedge Funds and Private Equity writer Nathan Vardi follows the money trail and shares what Frank Baker did for Spelman College:
One year ago, Robert Smith, the wealthiest African-American, stunned the nation by pledging to pay off the student loans of the 2019 class of Morehouse College. While giving his commencement speech at the graduation ceremony of the historically black all-male college, Smith also issued a challenge.
“I’ve got the alumni over there and this is a challenge to you alumni,” Smith said at the time. “Let’s make sure every class has the same opportunity going forward. Because we are enough to take care of our own community.”
Smith’s $34 million gift got the attention of Frank Baker, who has known Smith for years. Like Smith, Baker is an African-American who found business success by starting a private equity firm that invests in technology companies. Smith and Baker both started their Wall Street careers in 1994 in the mergers and acquisitions group of Goldman Sachs.
Baker has taken Smith’s challenge seriously and this week announced he would be paying the tuition balances of about 50 seniors who are graduating from Spelman College, the all-women historically black college in Atlanta.
“Robert was fortunate enough to go to Cornell and Columbia and him giving to Morehouse was a nod to the recognition that the majority of African-Americans going to college are graduating from historically black institutions,” said Baker, who graduated from the University of Chicago, in an interview. “We need to make sure these schools continue to be viable. We are all part of the same community. It doesn’t matter if I went to the school or not.”
In the wake of Ahmaud Arbery’s case, Black community leaders across the nation rally to show their support for his family and their discontent with how he was murdered am the events thereafter. Among the latest support, is a bold move from the leaders of Black fraternities.
Black fraternities were founded over a century ago and pride themselves on propelling the advancement of Black men. “The Divine Nine” is comprised of 9 public-service organizations with highly selective intake processes including 5 sororities —Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc. (1908), Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc.(1913), Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Inc.(1920), and Sigma Gamma Rho Inc.(1922)— and 4 fraternities—Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc. (1906), Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Inc. (1911), Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Inc. (1911), Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity Inc. (1914) and Iota Phi Theta Fraternity Inc. (1963).
Because they are each rooted in one similar mission centered around the African American community, it was only a matter of time before they united to take action. Read the letter from the presidents of all five Black fraternities in the Divine Nine to Attorney General William Barr:
We salute the leadership of Dr. Everett B. Ward, Dr. David Marion, Reuben A. Shelton III Esq., Michael E. Cristal and Andre Mason.
On Thursday, Donald Trump met with a number of Black Michigan legislators and leaders in Detroit to discuss White House support of African-American communities. During the sit-down, which he used to tout his claims of improving Black America, he also pondered an idea given to him by embattled Democratic lawmaker Karen Whitsett to found a “new” HBCU in the city of Detroit.
For those unfamiliar with the schools known collectively as historically Black colleges and universities, the U.S. Department of Education and the Higher Education Act of 1965, defines them as institutions of higher learning established before the Civil Rights Act of 1964, whose principal mission was, and still remains, to educate Black students. Despite the designation, which is also found in the language for the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Whitsett appealed to Trump to establish one in the Motor City. Her request comes seven years after Lewis College of Business, an actual HBCU founded in Detroit in 1928, ceased operations.
“I would love to see a historic Black college in the city of Detroit,” Whitsett can be heard saying in a clip posted to Twitter by The Hill. “I think that would be amazing and I think you’re just the president to be able to make that happen.”
Pondering the idea, Trump responds by saying that he finds the proposal “interesting.” “Maybe we can work something out,” he adds. “We’ll talk about that.” Read the full article.
