Sen. Cory Booker Reveals $100B Plan to Invest in HBCUs

According to The Hill, presidential hopeful Cory Booker has put forth a $100 billion plan to invest in historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs).

Booker is a current New Jersey senator (since 2013) who previously served as the 36th Mayor of Newark, New Jersey, from 2006 to 2013. He is currently running to become the second black president of the United States.

As the son of two proud HBCU grads (@FISK1866 and @NCCU!), I’m proud to announce that today my campaign is proposing the boldest-ever plan to invest in HBCUs: https://t.co/j7kpKmGRjV

— Cory Booker (@CoryBooker) December 3, 2019

Sen. Booker has outlined his HBCUs and MSIs plan:

Ensure that HBCUs and MSIs (minority-serving institutions) are able to provide a world-class education in world-class facilities:

• Build on the investments of the Future Act by investing an additional $30 billion in competitively-awarded grants by the Department of Education to enable HBCUs and MSIs to expand and improve STEM education and help with recruitment, retention, and graduation rates. Importantly, an investment of this scale would provide schools the security of funding for years to come, avoiding a situation where STEM funding for HBCUs can be held hostage by Congressional Republicans seeking leverage to push their legislative agenda. 
• Provide $30 billion in grants to upgrade infrastructure, including facilities and technology, at HBCUs and MSIs to ensure all students have access to a world-class education in world-class facilities.
• Build on his bill, the HBCU Capital Financing Improvement Act, which would allow more institutions to access financing to improve or construct classrooms, libraries, laboratories, dormitories, instructional equipment, and research instrumentation. Cory would also double the total amount of loans available through the HBCU Capital Financing Program.     

Related: Dell Technologies Builds Tech Pipeline for Black and Latinx Students

Put HBCUs at the center of the fight against climate change:

• Booker will require that at least 10% of his $400 billion 50-State Climate Moonshot Hubs are based in HBCUs and MSIs. Each hub would be focused on reasserting our global leadership in Research and Development (R&D) and leading the way in tackling the most important challenges in basic science, applied research, manufacturing, and commercialization.

Expand collaboration between HBCUs and federal agencies:

• Sign into law the Parren Mitchell Minority Business Education and Empowerment Act, a bill proposed by former Rep. Elijah Cummings that would require the SBA to collaborate with HBCUs to establish Small Business Development Centers and develop entrepreneurship curricula. 
• Fight to pass the HBCU PARTNERS Act, which would direct federal agencies to make a concerted effort to support HBCU participation in federal programs and grants.

Make college affordable for all Americans:

• Fight to pass the Debt-Free College Act, which would help students who attend public colleges, HBCUs, or MSIs graduate without debt by providing public funding to cover the full cost of college, including tuition, fees, and living expenses.
• Double the value of Pell Grants from $6,200 to $12,400, which about three in four students at HBCUs rely upon, and ensure that Dreamers are eligible to receive them. He would also fight to pass the Restoring Education and Learning Act to extend eligibility to incarcerated individuals. And, Cory would require that HBCUs and MSIs make up 10% of higher education institutions in the Second Chance Pell Grant Program.
• Work with Congress to pass the What You Can Do for Your Country Act, which would strengthen and expand the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program that provides debt cancellation to those who enter public service like teachers, social workers, public defenders and those who serve in the military. Borrowers would have their student debt cut in half after five years in public service and receive full debt forgiveness after 10 years in public service. Cory will also fight for his STRIVE Act, which would forgive loans for teachers incrementally and provide full forgiveness after seven years.
• Forgive student loan debt for low-income students who are struggling to repay their debt and for those who received degrees from failed for-profit colleges. 
• Make it easier to apply for student aid by simplifying the FAFSA for low-income students who qualify for other programs, as in his Simplifying Financial Aid for Students Act. He would also make the FAFSA more accessible for all by removing the prior drug conviction question on the FAFSA.
• Ensure access to affordable child care at HBCUs, community colleges, and other MSIs and invest in the child care workforce by passing his Preparing and Resourcing Our Student Parents and Early Childhood Teachers (PROSPECT) Act, which provides grants to MSIs and community colleges for student parents who need child care and invests in infant and toddler educators. 

Read more about his plan here.

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The 9 Best Soundbars for Every Budget (2019)

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Air pollution in Nairobi leaves Kenyan children struggling to breathe

Parents in Nairobi say high air pollution levels are putting their children's lives at risk.

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What Happens When Computers Learn to Read Our Emotions?

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Nigeria's Leon Balogun says fight against racism is a collective responsibility

Nigeria defender Leon Balogun insists the battle against racism is a collective responsibility and more 'extreme punishments' are needed.

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Confederation of African Football cuts shortlists for awards

The Confederation of African Football reduces the shortlists for its annual awards.

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Meet the Activists Risking Prison to Film VR in Factory Farms

This animal liberation group actually wants to be put on trial. Their goal: force jurors to wear VR headsets and immerse them in the suffering of animals bound for slaughter.

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Fueled by the power of stories

K. Guadalupe Cruz’s path into neuroscience began with storytelling.

“For me, it was always interesting that we are capable of keeping knowledge over so many generations,” says Cruz, a PhD student in the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences. For millennia, information has been passed down through the stories shared by communities, and Cruz wanted to understand how that information was transferred from one person to the next. “That was one of my first big questions,” she says.

Cruz has been asking this question since high school and the urge to answer it led her to anthropology, psychology, and linguistics, but she felt like something was missing. “I wanted a mechanism,” she explains. “So I kept going further and further, and eventually ended up in neuroscience.”

As an undergraduate at the University of Arizona, Cruz became fascinated with the sheer complexity of the brain. “We started learning a lot about different animals and how their brains worked,” says Cruz. “I just thought it was so cool,” she adds. That fascination got her into the lab and Cruz has never left. “I’ve been doing research ever since.”

A sense of space

If you’ve ever seen a model of the brain, you’ve probably seen one that is divided into regions, each shaded with a different color and with its own distinct function. The frontal lobe in red plans, the cerebellum in blue coordinates movement, the hippocampus in green remembers. But this is an oversimplification.

“The brain isn’t entirely modular,” says Cruz. Different parts of the brain don’t have a single function, but rather a number of functions, and their complexity increases toward the front of the brain. The intricacy of these frontal regions is embodied in their anatomy: “They have a lot of cells and they’re heavily interconnected,” she explains. These frontal regions encode many types of information, which means they are involved in a number of different functions, sometimes in abstract ways that are difficult to unravel.

The frontal region Cruz is bent on demystifying is the anterior cingulate cortex, or ACC, a part of the brain that wraps around the corpus callosum, which divides the outer layers of the brain into left and right hemispheres. Working with mice in Professor Mriganka Sur’s lab, Cruz looks at the role of the ACC in coordinating different downstream brain structures in orientating tasks. In humans, the ACC is involved in motivation, but in mice it has a role in eye movements and vision.

“Everything you experience in the world is relative to your own body,” says Cruz. Being able to determine where your body is in space is essential for navigating through the world. To explain this, Cruz gives the example of driver making a turn. “If you have to do a left turn, you’re going to need to use different information to determine whether you’re allowed to make that turn and if that’s the right choice,” Cruz explains. The ACC in this analogy is the driver: It has to take in all the information about the surrounding world, decide what to do, and then send this decision to other parts of the brain that control movement.

To study this, Cruz gives mice a simple task: She shows them two squares of different shades on a screen and asks them to move the darker square. “The idea is, how does this area of the brain take in this information, compare the two squares and decide which movement is correct,” she explains. Many researchers study how information gets to the ACC, but Cruz is interested in what happens after the information arrives, focusing on the processing and output ends of the equation, particularly in deciphering the contributions of different brain connections to the resulting action.

Cruz uses optogenetics to figure out which areas of the brain are necessary for decision-making. Optogenetics is a technique that uses light to turn on or off previously targeted neurons or areas of the brain. “This allows us to causally test whether parts of a circuit are required for a behavior or not,” she explains. Cruz distills it even further: “But mostly, it just lets us know that if you screw with this area, you’re going to screw something up.”

Community builder

At MIT, Cruz has been able to ask the neuroscience questions she’s captivated by, but coming to the Institute also made her more aware of how few underrepresented minorities, or URMs, there are in science broadly. “I started realizing how academia is not built for us, or rather, is built to exclude us,” says Cruz. “I saw these problems, and I wanted to do something to address them.”

Cruz has focused many of her efforts on community building. “A lot of us come from communities that are very ‘other’ oriented, and focused on helping one another,” she explains. One of her initiatives is Community Lunch, a biweekly casual lunch in the brain and cognitive sciences department. “It’s sponsored by the School of Science for basically anybody that’s a person of color in academia,” says Cruz. The lunch includes graduate students, postdocs, and technicians who come together to talk about their experiences in academia. “It’s kind of like a support group,” she says. Connecting with people that have shared experiences is important, she adds: “You get to talk about things and realize this is a feeling that a lot of people have.”

Another goal of Cruz’s is to make sure MIT understands the hurdles that many URMs experience in academia. For instance, applying to graduate school or having to cover costs for conferences can put a real strain on finances. “I applied to 10 programs; I was eating cereal every day for a month,” remembers Cruz. “I try to bring that information to light, because faculty and administrators have often never experienced it.”

Cruz also is the representative for the LGBT community on the MIT Graduate Student Council and a member of LGBT Grad, a student group run by and for MIT’s LGBT grad students and postdocs. “LGBT Grad is basically a social club for the community, and we try to organize events to get to know each other,” says Cruz. According to Cruz, graduate school can feel pretty lonely for members of the LGBT community, so, similar to her work with URMs, Cruz concentrates on bringing people together. “I can’t fix the whole system, which can be very frustrating at times, but I focused my efforts on supporting people and allowing us to build a community.”

As in her research, Cruz again comes back to the importance of storytelling. In her activism on campus, she wants to make sure the stories of URMs are known and, in doing so, help remove the obstacles faced by that generations of students that come after her.

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New York City Ballet’s ‘The Nutcracker’ Casts Charlotte Nebres as First Black Marie

Misty Copeland is an inspiration to the youth! According to The New York Times, the New York City Ballet has cast their very first black ballerina to play the character of Marie.

Eleven-year-old Charlotte Nebres is the first black girl to star in this year’s rendition of “The Nutcracker,” which has been ongoing since 1954. Nebres, whose mother’s family is from Trinidad and her father’s family is from the Philippines, attends the School of American Ballet.

In addition to Nebres securing a lead role in the ballet, the other young leads are Tanner Quirk (her Prince), who is half-Chinese; Sophia Thomopoulos (Marie), who is half-Korean, half-Greek; and Kai Misra-Stone (Sophia’s Prince), who is half-South Asian.

When Nebres was asked why ballet is important to her, she responded, “To me, it just feels like when I dance I feel free and I feel empowered. I feel like I can do anything when I dance. It makes me happy, and I’m going to do what makes me happy. You don’t need to think about anything else.”

NYC Ballet announced The New York Times story about the children cast on its Instagram account, “IN THE NEWS // The four children who alternate the roles of Marie and the Nutcracker Prince were recently profiled in The New York Times by Gia Kourlas. She sat down with them to discuss the rehearsal process, their lives off-stage, and their roles in the ballet.⁠”⠀

Misty Copeland became the first female African American principal at American Ballet Theater when Nebres was 6 and she remembers. “I saw her perform and she was just so inspiring and so beautiful,” she said. “When I saw someone who looked like me on stage, I thought, that’s amazing. She was representing me and all the people like me.”

School of American Ballet, which is the official school of New York City Ballet, is changing with the makeup of students attending. Over the past seven years, 62 S.A.B. students have become City Ballet apprentices; of those, 21 identify as nonwhite or mixed; and of those, 12 refer to themselves as black; four of them are women.

 George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker® is one of the most complex theatrical, staged ballets in the Company’s active repertory. The popularity of the ballet is immense and it provides an unforgettable spark to everyone’s holiday season.

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Baby Yoda Merchandise Is Out There—but Be Wary, You Must

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Spotify celebrates Jay-Z’s 50th birthday by making his entire discography available

Today is Jay-Z’s 50th birthday and the business savvy mogul commemorated the day by making his entire discography available on Spotify.

According to Complex, Wednesday, Spotify’s announced on their official Twitter account that their users could now listen to every Hov track ever released on their streaming service.

READ MORE: Gabrielle Union claps back after ‘America’s Got Talent’ releases lackluster statement but no apology

“Happy birthday, Hov Welcome back to Spotify,” read the caption of the post.

Previously, JAY, had removed most of his albums from Spotify after launching his own streaming service Tidal. Up until this week the only albums from the rapper left behind were Reasonable Doubt, In My Lifetime, Vol. 1, and Vol. 2…Hard Knock Life and Collision Course, his 2004 album with Linkin Park.

Now faves like The Black Album, American Gangster, and Watch the Throne have also been added back into the mix. There has been no word on if this is a longterm reunion or just a short term gift to celebrate the special day. But you can check out some of the excited fan reactions below.

READ MORE: Jay-Z sues Australian bookseller for using some of his most famous lyrics

Happy birthday, Hov 🎁
Welcome back to Spotify.https://t.co/exr5QGgwCK pic.twitter.com/t7l4H5zn6E

— Spotify (@Spotify) December 4, 2019

Ya have no idea how stressful and annoying it was to have Spotify and not be able to listen to Jay Z on there 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 pic.twitter.com/6jupKwaxv4

— #FreeAyton (@Freshman893) December 4, 2019

Jay z putting his discography back on Spotify means watch the throne is back on there pic.twitter.com/G35LGP5Nwo

— jk (@_JwK14) December 4, 2019

seeing jay z spotify links all over my timeline pic.twitter.com/DHwqACIEKn

— shpee (is baby) (@MrSirShpee) December 4, 2019

JAY Z JUST PUT ALL HIS MUSIC ON #SPOTIFY!!!!!!!! #HAPPYBIRTHDAYJAYZ pic.twitter.com/rLg3IjuJfq

— ✨The Good Girl✨ (@Hi_ImNeshay) December 4, 2019

 

 

 

The post Spotify celebrates Jay-Z’s 50th birthday by making his entire discography available appeared first on theGrio.

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DR Congo and South Sudan withdraw from Cecafa Cup

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How the Game of Golf—and the PGA HOPE Program—Changed This Military Vet’s Life

The idea of golf and retirement goes hand in hand in popular culture, when you’re talking about a senior citizen enjoying his or her leisure time after decades of hard work. But PGA HOPE is working to get a whole different kind of retiree to pick up some clubs. It’s using the game to help veterans chart a new path after they retire from the military.

In the fourth and final episode of PGA of America’s video podcast series On The Tee, PGA’s Chief People Officer Sandy Cross introduces military veteran James Eugene, who shares how golf helped him rediscover his drive and make the transition to civilian life.

“PGA HOPE is Helping Our Patriots Everywhere,” says Eugene, who started in the PGA HOPE program and is now a PGA WORKS Fellow in the Metropolitan PGA Section.

“I was at a point of despair once I left the military after 12 years of faithful service to the United States Marine Corps,” Eugene continues. “I found myself just trying to figure out a new sense of identity. I didn’t really know where I wanted to go or have a direction to go to. By chance I found PGA HOPE, and it truly changed my life. It introduced me to the game of golf and connected me with other veterans going through the same issue.”

PGA HOPE is the flagship military program of PGA’s foundation. It introduces golf to veterans with disabilities—at no cost to them—through a six-to-eight week curriculum taught by PGA Professionals trained in adaptive golf and military cultural competency. The program aims to enhance the physical, mental, social, and emotional well-being of vets and thereby create a healthier veteran community.

Previous episodes of On the Tee have highlighted PGA WORKS and also the PGA’s partnership with Jopwell, both part of the organization’s initiatives to expose golf to communities that traditionally have not had access.

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Gabrielle Union Launches A Holiday Collection With New York & Company

Gabrielle’s Got Talent! According to Essence, Gabrielle Union has launched a holiday collection with New York & Company.

Union debuted new silhouettes for her 51-piece holiday collection, which features an assortment of shiny metallics, sequins, luxe fabrics, and dramatic flair. The holiday collection is available online with prices ranging from $55 to $200.

The promo for the collection showcases Raven Goodwin, Ajiona Alexus, Essence Atkins, Valarie Pettiford, Candace Parker, Nia Sioux, Dania Ramirez and also features two black trans women, Ashlee Marie Preston and Isis King.

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Gabrielle Union-Wade (@gabunion) on Nov 13, 2019 at 12:59pm PST

“While I’m crazy about fashion, I’m also all about balance and want to make sure I create looks that not only I would wear, but that my mom, aunts, cousins, friends, and sisters would want to rock,” Union told ESSENCE back in August when speaking about the Fall collection she and NY&Company collaborated on.

Related: Ultimate 2019 Gift Guide From Black-Owned Businesses: Clothing, Jewelry, and Accessories

This latest collection arrives months after Union’s launch of Kaavi James by Gabrielle Union, the actress’s baby collection in collaboration with New York & Company, which includes girls and unisex pieces.  

This comes on the heels of the actress becoming embroiled in a controversy that saw her lose her job on America’s Got Talent. After making several complaints to executives at NBC regarding some racial issues, Union won’t be returning to the popular variety show in January. 

 

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Jada and Will Smith had marital challenges similar to T.I. and Tiny Harris

During a Red Table Talk discussion with T.I. and his wife, Tameka “Tiny” Harris, Jada Pinkett Smith spoke on her own marriage challenges with Will Smith.

On the Red Table Talk, Tiny, 44, told Jada that she lost herself in her marriage to T.I, 39.

“When a man completely takes control, takes care of you, you don’t have a lot of say because you are dependent on this man,” Tiny said on the show. “So for a long time, because you didn’t want me to work, I pretty much gave up.”

READ MORE: Jada Pinkett Smith says Willow has had to check Will Smith for misinformed comments

It was then that Jada, 48, divulged that she and Will had faced “the exact same thing” and “had to work through” it.

“She felt like she lost herself in supporting Will and his dreams and his career, and the idea that he had of what their relationship was gonna be,” Adrienne Banfield-Jones, Jada’s mother and co-host of the show, explained.

Jada said about women: “We do relinquish a lot of our power to our men that we’ve given our lives to. And at first, I gave it all over. And then I realized, ‘Oh this is not working.’ And you get just a little disappointed because you feel like, ‘I gave it all to you and you took it and you misused it — you stopped listening to me.’”

But it’s our power to reclaim, she added.

“Then as you start coming into the understanding of yourself and your own power, you go ‘Oh man, Jada, that was your choice, though,'” Jada said on the show.

READ MORE: How Jada Pinkett Smith schooled an ‘incredibly apologetic’ T.I. during a candid ‘Red Table Talk’

As it relates to T.I., whose birth name is Clifford Harris, Jada told Tiny: “He did the best he could. Honor the fact that he wanted to, honor the fact that he tried. It takes a minute to get there, though.”

Wise words for the ladies and gents.

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Kenya floods: Teenager dies trying to rescue man

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Lionel Richie Releases Hello Fragrance Collection

According to the New York Daily News, crooner Lionel Richie announced the launch of his first his-and-her fragrance collection called Hello by Lionel Richie.

As Richie points out on his website, “There are many similarities between songwriting and fragrance creation—the notes have to work together to tell a story. The creation of my fragrance collection is inspired by my love songs and the stories they tell and I’m excited to share this passion project with everyone around the world! “HELLO by Lionel Richie,” is now available on Amazon.com.”

Hello by Lionel Richie Eau de Parfum is described as a sensual and elegant fruity-chypre scent with floral and oriental nuances. Hello by Lionel Richie Eau de Toilette is a sexy and sparkling fougère fragrance with warm amber tones. Both fragrances are available in these sizes: a 30, 50, and 100 ml and prices range from $36 to $59.

Hello by Lionel Richie (Image: Amazon)

“I’ve always looked at fragrance as a way to express yourself, so I wanted to take my creative expression one step further and decided to craft my very own fragrances,” Richie said.

“I merged my own style and the embodiment of my love songs to create a fragrance collection I’m proud to share with fans and people around the world.”

Related: Ultimate 2019 Gift Guide From Black-Owned Businesses: Clothing, Jewelry, and Accessories

The fragrance is named after one of his most famous love ballads, “Hello,” which was the third single from his second solo album Can’t Slow Down (1983). After being released in 1984, the song reached No. 1 on three different Billboard music charts: the pop chart, where it stayed for two weeks, the R&B chart resting on top for three weeks, and the adult contemporary chart for six weeks.

Richie, who started as a lead singer of the Commodores, left the group to pursue a solo career and went on to sell over 90 million records worldwide. He won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year for Can’t Slow Down, and his other Grammy Awards include Producer of the Year (Non-Classical) in 1985 and Best Male Pop Vocal Performance for “Truly” in 1983.

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Sen. Kamala Harris is not here for Trump’s Twitter pettiness

California Sen. Kamala Harris may be out of the presidential running, but she let President Donald Trump know her clap back game is still as strong as ever.

After Harris announced yesterday she was ending her presidential run, former Trump campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, tweeted “Another one bites the dust. Guess it’s not as easy as everyone thought. @realDonaldTrump connected with people that’s why he won 38 Primaries and Caucuses.”

‘One of the hardest decisions of my life’: Kamala Harris ends once-promising campaign. Another one bites the dust. Guess it’s not as easy as everyone thought. ⁦@realDonaldTrump⁩ connected with people that’s why he won 38 Primaries and Caucuses. https://t.co/CT5gADH8Rd

— Corey R. Lewandowski (@CLewandowski_) December 3, 2019

READ MORE: Sen. Kamala Harris ends Democratic presidential campaign

Trump retweeted Lewandowski’s post and added, sarcastically: “Too bad. We will miss you Kamala!”

Six minutes later, Harris flexed her comeback jab one more again for Trump.

“Don’t worry, Mr. President. I’ll see you at your trial,” Harris tweeted back.

Don’t worry, Mr. President. I’ll see you at your trial. https://t.co/iiS17NY4Ry

— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) December 3, 2019

BOOM!

Harris left the field of Democratic challengers citing her campaign’s financial challenges. In a letter to her supporters, Harris wrote: “In good faith, I can’t tell you, my supporters and volunteers, that I have a path forward if I don’t believe I do.”

The House is expected to vote to impeach Trump by Christmas, according to The Washington Post. After weeks of public hearings on whether Trump pushed Ukraine officials to investigate presidential hopeful, Joe Biden, and his son, on a promise of aid money, legislators are determining whether to proceed with impeachment. If the House garners enough votes to impeach Trump, the next phase would be a trial in the Senate, where Harris would vote on whether to remove Trump from office, reported The USA Today.

Harris has already let it be known that she believes Trump committed impeachable offenses.

“We have a criminal in the White House,” Harris said at November’s primary debate, according to The USA Today.

Yesterday’s announcement by Harris prompted Trump, and his cronies, to fire back with his legendary pettiness.

Trump’s 2020 campaign twitter account also weighed in on Harris’ campaign suspension announcement by tweeting: “BREAKING NEWS: @KamalaHarris has ended her campaign for president. Congratulations @TulsiGabbard!”

BREAKING NEWS: @KamalaHarris has ended her campaign for president.

Congratulations @TulsiGabbard!🏄‍♀️ pic.twitter.com/WnS247P6d9

— Trump War Room (Text TRUMP to 88022) (@TrumpWarRoom) December 3, 2019

READ MORE: Democratic Debate: 5 most important moments for Black voters to consider

Harris and Gabbard have previously traded barbs during debates and on social media and the Trump campaign tweet played to that. But after Harris’ announcement, Gabbard joined other Democratic presidential candidates in wishing her well.

“Sending my best wishes to @KamalaHarris, her family & supporters who have campaigned so hard. While we disagree on some issues, we agree on others & I respect her sincere desire to serve the American people. I look forward to working together on the challenges we face as a nation,” Gabbard said.

Sending my best wishes to @KamalaHarris, her family & supporters who have campaigned so hard. While we disagree on some issues, we agree on others & I respect her sincere desire to serve the American people. I look forward to working together on the challenges we face as a nation

— Tulsi Gabbard (@TulsiGabbard) December 3, 2019

The post Sen. Kamala Harris is not here for Trump’s Twitter pettiness appeared first on theGrio.

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There’s excitement in the air for Humberto Caldelas

When Humberto Caldelas II was growing up, his dad took him to all the nearest air shows so he could see all the planes. And when he learned to drive, he joked with his parents that he shouldn’t drive near the airport because he would get distracted. He always looks up at the sky when he hears airplanes pass. 

“I can't even tell you the first time I got interested in airplanes,” he says. “I think I just was born with it.”

Caldelas is an MIT senior majoring in aeronautics and astronautics, but he came into the university thinking he’d go into nuclear science and engineering. He used to think of his love of flying as a hobby but not a profession — that is, until his friends convinced him to take a tour of the MIT’s Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AeroAstro). During his tour, he learned of a semiserious requirement for every professor candidate. As the rumor goes, after the technical interviews, the candidate is taken outside; if a plane flies overhead and the candidate doesn’t look up, they don’t get the job.

As soon as Caldelas heard this, he knew AeroAstro would be his home. 

“I was like, ‘If that's the passion here in the department, then that's where I should be.’ And I haven't regretted that decision since,” he says. “It's really been so much fun. It feels like a home just because I can nerd out with people about all the airplane and space things.”

Through his major, Caldelas has focused on both air and space travel, and hopes his career will go in both directions. Caldelas has been involved with the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) during his four years at MIT and after graduation will join the Navy as a naval aviator. After serving for his country and working with airplanes, he then hopes to become an astronaut.

The flying bug

Caldelas is the kind of person to arrive at the airport well before his flight, just so he can see planes take off. And when he’s on the airplane, he loves sitting in a seat where he can look out the window and watch the engine function.  

“Every time I fly, I get the chills,” he says. “There's a quote that goes ‘with understanding comes appreciation, and with appreciation comes respect.’ So after studying how a jet engine works, how hard it is to design it, how hard it is to build it, it makes [an airplane] even more incredible.” 

The aeronautics part of his MIT education gave Caldelas a background on the theory and mechanics of airplane flight. Through his classes, he’s learned about the physics of flying, experimented by making foam airplanes, and tested equipment through wind tunnels. 

Over the past two summers, Caldelas interned at Boeing, gaining hands-on experience with the 737 and P-8A Poseidon aircraft. He also got to see how understanding the mechanics of an airplane will help him when he is a pilot. 

For example, when they were testing some iterations of the new 777X, one of the test pilots — who had both flying experience and and understood what was going on inside the plane — easily identified an issue with the plane because she was in tune with how an airplane is constructed. Caldelas aspires to do exactly that.

After graduating, he wants to commission as an officer in the Navy and be a fighter pilot. During his first year of high school, Caldelas enrolled in the Civil Air Patrol, which is affiliated with the U.S. Air Force. He flew an airplane for the first time and has never gotten over that thrill. Throughout his time at MIT, he’s been involved with Naval ROTC and often wears the classic “summer whites” uniform with the gold buttons; this semester, he is the company commander of his unit.

After Navy training post-college, he hopes to go to U.S. Naval Test Pilot School. Caldelas says test pilots know how to fly and have a technical understanding of airplanes, which helps them communicate with the engineers on what they need to tweak.

From white uniform to white space suit

The AeroAstro hallway displays photos of many illustrious alumni of the department, including a number of astronauts — a group Caldelas ultimately hopes to join.

His fascination with astronauts began early: When he was 4 years old, his family went to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. 

“I was just barely walking, and this astronaut comes up, and I was like wow, ‘I want to be him,’” he says. 

The admiration with astronauts skyrocketed as he grew up. When MIT was celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission, Caldelas received an email from the department asking for students to help escort astronauts around the events. Immediately, he filled out the form — if there is an opportunity to meet an astronaut, Caldelas is there. 

Caldelas was assigned to Mark Lee, a former Air Force Colonel and NASA astronaut who flew on four Space Shuttle missions. When Caldelas was showing Lee around, Lee stopped in the middle of the hallway of photographs and nonchalantly said “that’s me,” pointing to a large photograph of a man in a white space suit with Earth in the background. Starstruck, Caldelas looked at the frame and saw the name “Mark Lee” on it. He immediately asked for a photograph of the two of them with the historic image in the background. 

“I walk past this photo everyday. Who else can say they met the astronaut in a famous photograph?” Caldelas says. “Only at MIT does that happen.”

Throughout the tour of the department, Caldelas kept saying how he can’t believe he is in the same space as so many MIT legends. A national Hispanic Scholarship Fund recipient, Caldelas is also a first-generation American, one of the first Hispanic students to be accepted into the engineering program at his high school, and the first person to get into MIT from his New Jersey high school.

He’s constantly grateful for his opportunities and hopes to inspire the next generation, just as the MIT astronauts and their photographs inspired him. 

“You don’t have to be perfect to go to this school, you just have to have the passion, and that motivates people,” he says. “It’s really humbling for me live out my dreams to come to MIT. And I want to honor this opportunity by inspiring others to keep going and reach for their dreams.”

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Dambe: Ancient African combat sport is a YouTube phenomenon

Dambe is traditionally practised by Hausa butchers, but its popularity has grown recently.

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Richard Sherman Pays Off Over $27,000 to Clear Schools’ Cafeteria Debt

According to ABC News, San Francisco 49ers’ Richard Sherman cleared the debt for some public school students.

On Nov. 23, Sherman hand-delivered a check for $7,491.27 to clear student lunch debt at Cabrillo Middle School in Santa Clara, California. “It’s the most generous thing to happen for these kids, there’s plenty in need and he didn’t neglect them, it was the perfect way to give back and help them,” Principal Stan Garber told ABC News about the 60 students that will benefit from Sherman’s contribution. “It was the kindest most generous gesture.” Cabrillo Middle School is the school closest to the 49ers’ stadium.

“The district is thankful to the Richard Sherman Family Foundation for this kind donation,” Santa Clara Unified School District officials said in a statement. “It means that many Cabrillo families will have less debt over the holiday season.”

The gesture came one day after Sherman was named the National Football League Players Association Week 11 Community MVP. According to a press release from The National Football League Players Association, Richard Sherman Family Foundation’s Blanket Coverage donated more than $20,000 to the Tacoma School District to relieve the lunch debt of students who are receiving free or reduced lunch.

Sherman and his wife, Ashley, donated items to three food banks in the Seattle and Tacoma areas after hearing that their shelves were almost empty. “When we heard the food bank was experiencing a food shortage, we knew we had to step in and do something,” Sherman said. “It has been incredible to see how our donation has sparked a big movement and has driven others to donate as well. No child should ever go hungry.”

Since launching Blanket Coverage in 2013, the organization has raised more than $1.5 million and helped more than 70,000 people in carrying out their mission of providing low-income students with school supplies and clothing so they can more adequately achieve their goals.

In seven-plus years of annual backpack, homeless care kits, and holiday giveaways, the Shermans’ foundation has:

• Donated more than 15,000 backpacks, including providing 16 low-income schools and more than 2,500 students with backpacks and school supplies since the start of the 2019 school year
• Provided more than 7,100 care packages to the homeless
• Adopted more than 160 families during the holidays
• Distributed $500 gift cards for Thanksgiving to 25 low-income families

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Larry Page and Sergey Brin Hand Over Alphabet’s Reins

Google chief Sundar Pichai is now also the CEO of Alphabet, but Page and Brin aren’t totally out of the picture.

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Wayne Williams, prime suspect in Atlanta Child Murders, denied parole

Wayne Williams, suspected of killing more than 20 Black children in Atlanta from 1979 to 1981, was denied parole by the Georgia Board of Pardons and Parole.

Although Williams has never been charged with killing a child, he is serving two life sentences for killing two adults. Still, authorities have always considered Williams, 61, as the main suspect in the Atlanta child murders, which terrorized the nation at the time, according to WSBTV.

READ MORE: Super-producer Will Packer speaks on ‘The Atlanta Child Murders’ his 3-part documentary on the ID Channel

For his part, Williams has always professed his innocence in the child murders.

The Georgia Board of Pardons and Parole said the primary reason why Williams was denied parole was “insufficient amount of time served to date given the nature and circumstances of your offense(s),” reported WSBTV.

The timing of the parole denial comes as there is renewed interest in the Atlanta child murders. Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said last year that the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office, along with Atlanta police, would revisit the cases.

Williams has people who believe in his innocence and told Channel 2 before his parole hearing that they expected him to be released.

“I don’t see why anyone would want to hold a man in prison if there is still lingering doubts that’s he didn’t do any of the things he’s convicted of,” Dewayne Hendrix, head of the Wayne Williams Freedom Project, told the station.

READ MORE: Atlanta’s Mayor pushes for review in ‘Atlanta Child Murders’ cases

Venus Taylor, mom of 12-year-old, Angel, who was killed in March 1980, said she knows Williams is not her daughter’s killer. Taylor claims that a Georgia Bureau of Investigation agent even told her that they knew who did murder Angel but stated that person would never be prosecuted.

“Wayne Williams had nothing to do with killing my child,” Taylor said, adding that she wants authorities to release him from prison. “I think he’s done enough time.”

Williams’ next parole hearing has been set for November 2027.

The post Wayne Williams, prime suspect in Atlanta Child Murders, denied parole appeared first on theGrio.

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Reality star Charmaine Walker reveals she’s married and expecting a baby

Charmaine Walker of Black Ink Crew: Chicago fame announced major news over the past few days: she is pregnant and officially off the market.

Walker dropped by PEOPLE TV’s Reality Check on Monday to announce she is now married to Nick Bey. The news comes one day after Walker announced on Instagram that she and Bey would soon be parents.

READ MORE: Alex of ‘Black Ink Crew’ suing Teddy and Ceasar for over $1 million

“My fiancé Nick is no longer my fiancé,” Walker told Reality Check. “We didn’t break up, we actually got legally married. We decided that we just wanted to be together. It was just kind of like we’re already engaged, so we’re obviously going to get married. Why wait? You know, obviously the cameras play a big part in our lives, so we just wanted to do something for us.”

They managed to pull it off well. Now divulging their news has Walker feeling “so great” and even more legit as a married woman.

“I feel like a wife,”  she said. “And now I feel like a mom.”

On Sunday, Walker took to IG to reveal she is pregnant with her first child, and the baby is due on March 12, 2020.

Walker uploaded an ultrasound video and captioned it: “Expecting Baby Bey March 2020. Shoutout to Momma Glenda. She was so excited. The night before she unexpectedly passed away she said: “I still can’t believe my baby is having a baby!” I’ll never forget those words. This has been an emotional roller coaster but I’m blessed to be bringing life into this world. #BabyBey.”

 

View this post on Instagram

 

Shoutout to Momma Glenda. She was so excited 🦋 The night before she unexpectedly passed away she said “I still can’t believe my baby is having a baby!” I’ll never forget those words. This has been an emotional roller coaster but I’m blessed to be bringing life into this world. #BabyBey

A post shared by Charmaine (@charmainej_tv) on Dec 1, 2019 at 4:41pm PST

Bey also announced the baby news on his IG account, by posting a video and photo of himself smiling while holding his wife’s tummy. In the video, he is singing to #BabyBey through mama’s tummy and in the pic he captioned, “Y’all think it’s a boy or girl?! #6months.”

 

View this post on Instagram

 

Baby Bey On The Way!!! 03/2020

A post shared by Nick Bey (@neekbey) on Dec 1, 2019 at 4:30pm PST

 

View this post on Instagram

 

Y’all think it’s a boy or girl?! #6months

A post shared by Nick Bey (@neekbey) on Dec 2, 2019 at 5:38am PST

 Walker added to Reality Check that she is 25 weeks pregnant which means “five-and-a-half months or six-and-a-half months, I haven’t figured it out.”

Ryan Henry, who also stars in Black Ink Crew, says he saw it coming.“I just kind of knew it was coming, so I wasn’t surprised. I knew how they felt about each other; I knew how their relationship was going and I knew how her family wanted a baby,” Henry told Reality Check, “so it wasn’t no surprise to me.”

READ MORE: Lauren London shares another touching photo of her tattoo of Nipsey Hussle on forearm

This happy news could not have come at a better time. Walker lost her mother, Glenda, last in October. Congrats to the happy couple.

Black Ink Crew airs on Dec. 4 on VH1.

The post Reality star Charmaine Walker reveals she’s married and expecting a baby appeared first on theGrio.

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15 Passive-Aggressive Gift Ideas for Your Terrible Roommate

If you're obligated to give a gift, you might as well send a thinly-veiled message along with it.

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Long-awaited Ethiopia v Eritrea clash delayed again

Ethiopia's decision not to take part in the regional Cecafa Senior Challenge Cup means a clash with Eritrea will not go ahead.

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Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe 'left $10m but no will'

The ousted former president also had four houses, 10 cars, a farm and an orchard.

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Michelle Obama travels to Asia for female empowerment tour

Michelle Obama, our forever FLOTUS, is headed to Vietnam and Malaysia this month to draw attention to girls’ education.

According to PEOPLE, Obama’s special guests on the trip will include actress, Julia Roberts, and Today co-host Jenna Bush Hager, who will highlight some of the stories on the NBC network.

READ MORE: New journal based on Michelle Obama’s memoir ‘Becoming’ on sale now

In October, Obama went on Today to explain her purpose for the trip and why it’s so important.

“More than 98 million adolescent girls aren’t in school, yet the evidence is clear: When girls get the opportunities they deserve, our whole world benefits,” Obama told Today in the fall. “That’s why we’ve been working to lift grassroots leaders and organizations around the world who improve girls’ lives every day.”

Yesterday, the Obama Foundation put out a news release unveiling more details about Michelle’s role and how Roberts will join her. Roberts, 52, and Obama, 55, will meet up on Dec. 9 in Vietnam with the Girls Opportunity Alliance to “to meet with local girls education organizations and beneficiaries of programs that help adolescent girls reach their full potential through education.”

On Dec. 12 in Malaysia, Roberts will join Obama on stage to discuss their time in Vietnam and “lessons from their own leadership journeys and their path-baking careers,” before wrapping up with a Q&A, according to the release. The discussion will be moderated by Deborah Henry, a philanthropist, and a TV show host.

This event marks the Obama Foundation’s first time hosting a gathering comprised of 200 civic leaders from the Asia-Pacific region. The event will be held in Kuala Lumpur from Dec. 10 to Dec. 14 and includes Roberts’ conversation with Michelle Obama. 

READ MORE: Michelle Obama and her ‘voting squad’ are ready to get out the vote

Hager, 38, said she is looking forward to telling the girl’s stories on Today. YouTube Originals will also air some stories.

“I’m so excited,” Hager said, according to PEOPLE. “It’s an awesome opportunity to help shine a light on all of those that are helping keep girls in schools. We know that if a girl stays in school, they are more likely to help lift up not only themselves but their communities, too.”

Last year, the Obama Foundation launched its Girls Opportunity Alliance initiative.

The post Michelle Obama travels to Asia for female empowerment tour appeared first on theGrio.

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It's Now Easy to Shift Facebook Pics to Google (in Europe Anyway)

You can thank the GRPR for the data-moving tool—and pictures are just the beginning.

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Elon Musk to Testify as Diver's Slander Trial Gets Under Way

A trial beginning in Los Angeles is the latest chapter in a saga that began with Musk's plan to use a mini-sub to rescue a trapped soccer team.

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Boston Celtics’ Jayson Tatum Says He’ll Save 100% of $7.8 Million NBA Salary

Professional athletes have a long history of going broke after earning millions of dollars throughout their careers. However, it seems like now, more and more young players are getting smarter with their money. According to a report by CNBC, Boston Celtics player Jayson Tatum saves 100% of his annual salary from the NBA.

The 21-year-old basketball player will earn a base salary of $7.83 million and he will not spend a dime of it as all of it will go straight in his bank account. “All the money I get from the Celtics, I put it in a savings account,” he told Maverick Carter on Uninterrupted’s Kneading Dough. However, he spends the money that he generates through various endorsements deals. “I didn’t make all this money to save it all,” Tatum added. After being drafted, he did buy an Escalade for his mother and a Range Rover for himself.

Tatum gives all the credit to his mother for instilling in him the virtues of becoming more financially literate. “As I got older and started understanding that the NBA was coming to reality, she started talking to me about the importance of balancing all of this money,” Tatum told Carter.

“When I picked my agent, I told him I want to do as much off-the-court stuff as I can,” Tatum told the Boston Globe. “Right now I’m young, so I try to do everything as much as possible. … Tomorrow is not promised. You’re not promised the next contract. You want to save all the money you can.”

After playing only one season of basketball at Duke University, Tatum declared for the 2017 NBA draft at the age of 19. The Boston Celtics selected him with the No. 3 overall pick and he signed a lucrative contract: $30.1 million, to be distributed over four years.

This comes on the heels of reports that New England Patriots player Joejuan Williams sets aside 90% of his income toward his savings. Williams signed a four-year, $6.6 million contract earlier this year, and he says he will live as if he were making 10% of that and put 90% of his after-tax income into savings.

Watch Jayson Tatum talk about his finances below.

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Sacked official Amr Fahmy to bid for Caf presidency

Sacked general secretary Amr Fahmy is bidding to be the next president of the Confederation of African Football.

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Instagram, My Daughter, and Me

In real life, I only see her two out of every 14 days. On Instagram I can bend time and space to stay connected to her.

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Senators Protest a Health Algorithm Biased Against Black People

A study found that the formula discriminated against black people by counting health care costs as an indicator of illness.

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Tesla Has Found a Use for Lasers—Cleaning Glass

The electric automaker shuns lasers for its self-driving features. But a patent application foresees using the technology to clean windshields and cameras.

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What Is Genetic Testing? The Complete WIRED Guide

Everything you need to know about DNA, medical breakthroughs, and genetic privacy.

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Zimbabwe face international stadium problems

Zimbabwe's National Sports Stadium in Harare is ruled unfit to host international matches.

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Confederation Cup holders Zamalek appoint Patrice Carteron to replace Micho

Serb coach Milutin 'Micho' Sredejovic leaves Zamalek, with former Raja Casablanca and Al Ahly coach Patrice Carteron replacing him.

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Assault charges against Remy Ma have been dropped

Remy Ma is off the hook in her assault case after a judge dropped all charges against her on Monday.

The Love & Hip Hop star was facing serious legal trouble after being arrested and charged for an alleged altercation between her and Brittney Taylor that occurred in April.

According to reports, the judge threw out all four charges against Remy Ma because there was insufficient evidence against her.

Did Remy Ma really just compare sexual assault victims to prostitutes?

“Remy has always maintained her complete innocence as she never laid a hand on her celebrity-obsessed, clout chasing, credibility challenged accuser. Unfortunately, these manufactured allegations caused my client to suffer the indignities of having to wear an ankle monitor while having her freedom limited by travel restrictions and an 8:00 PM curfew,” her attorney, Dawn Florio, told TMZ.

“These restrictions have hurt my client’s ability to perform, causing hundreds of thousands of dollars of lost income. District Attorney Vance’s office should be commended for its exercise of sound judgment in agreeing to dismiss these unwarranted charges.”

 

Remy Ma faces four more criminal charges in assault case involving LHHNY co-star

Back in May, the “All the Way Up” rapper was hit with four charges by prosecutors which includes two counts of assault in the third degree, one count of aggravated harassment in the second degree, and one count of harassment in the second degree.

At the time, Taylor’s attorney, Sanford Rubenstein told TMZ that this is not “reality TV” and his client is a “victim.”

“This arrest demonstrates how serious this matter is, it is real life and not reality TV entertainment,” Taylor’s attorney, Sanford Rubenstein, said in a statement, according to Billboard. “The victim Brittney Taylor has confidence in our system of justice and will continue to fully cooperate with the authorities.”

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SNEAK PEEK: Michael B. Jordan and Jamie Foxx shine in new ‘Just Mercy’ trailer

Warner Bros. just dropped a new trailer for Just Mercy starring Jamie Foxx, Michael B. Jordan, and O’Shea Jackson Jr. as they tell the real-life story of Bryan Stevenson and Walter McMillan.

In this incredible film, Michael B. Jordan portrays Stevenson, the real-life hero who has been fighting to exonerate the wrongfully incarcerated through the Equal Justice Initiative he founded in 1995. Since then, he has saved more than 125 men from the death penalty. In 2014, he wrote Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption, which is the basis of the film produced by Jordan’s Outlier Productions. 

Jamie Foxx tears up while discussing his father at ‘Just Mercy’ screening at AFI Fest

Peep the official synopsis:

A powerful and thought-provoking true story, Just Mercy follows young lawyer Bryan Stevenson (Michael B. Jordan) and his history-making battle for justice. After graduating from Harvard, Bryan had his pick of lucrative jobs. Instead, he heads to Alabama to defend those wrongly condemned or who were not afforded proper representation, with the support of local advocate Eva Ansley (Brie Larson). One of his first, and most incendiary, cases is that of Walter McMillian (Jamie Foxx), who, in 1987, was sentenced to die for the notorious murder of an 18-year-old girl, despite a preponderance of evidence proving his innocence and the fact that the only testimony against him came from a criminal with a motive to lie. In the years that follow, Bryan becomes embroiled in a labyrinth of legal and political maneuverings and overt and unabashed racism as he fights for Walter, and others like him, with the odds—and the system—stacked against them.

Check out the latest trailer:

Just Mercy hits select theaters on Christmas Day and opens wide on January 10.

 

The post SNEAK PEEK: Michael B. Jordan and Jamie Foxx shine in new ‘Just Mercy’ trailer appeared first on theGrio.

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Quad Webb slams Heavenly for saying she slept with Common: “I am so very disappointed”

This week’s episode of Married To Medicine was full of shocking moments, but the most surprising revelation came when Dr. Heavenly Kimes insisted that Quad Webb has slept with Common. 

Quad made it clear that Heavenly’s comments aren’t true in a statement to BET. 

“Rumors get started when a person wants to think more about the ratings and less about loyalty and friendship. I don’t know why she [Dr. Heavenly] would jeopardize our friendship for entertainment purposes, everything is not a joke,” she said. 

“I don’t know Common, I don’t have his phone number, and we have never shared the same space. I met him once during an interview with Sister’s Circle. This was a very professional setting, and I take my career very seriously. I do not use it as a dating ground.”

She also noted that Common already has a girlfriend. 

“I am so very disappointed in Heavenly, and I don’t think she realizes the repercussions of making such false statements. Common is in a flourishing relationship and he may marry Angela one day. He does not need a terrible rumor like this to ruin their Black Love. I respect Common and Angela Rye as two very intelligent and beautiful people that are doing amazing things for our people. What Heavenly did was an attack on my professional reputation as a talk show host. My professional life is completely independent of my personal life,” she continued.

“Her actions are not the actions of a true friend. What is most hurtful is that we were close for the last 2-3 years and what she did was very lowbrow and inconsiderate. Once again, a Black woman trying to tear down Black women.”

The post Quad Webb slams Heavenly for saying she slept with Common: “I am so very disappointed” appeared first on theGrio.

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Why the floods in East Africa are so bad

Rain-triggered disasters have killed at least 250 people and affected some three million people across East Africa.

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How Amazon Ended Up With Auschwitz Christmas Ornaments for Sale

The offensive items appear to be the byproduct of an increasingly automated ecommerce landscape.

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