Saturday, July 6, 2019
Friday, July 5, 2019
The Crown Act: California becomes the first state to protect natural hair
California is now the first and only state that has created a law to protect natural hairstyles and outlaw racial discrimination based on ones hairstyle.
A bill called The Crown Act was passed unanimously in California’s Assembly and Senate and was signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday.
This bill will protect people in workplaces and K-12 public schools who choose to have natural hair styles. The new law goes into place on Jan.1, according to the LA Times.
READ MORE: California set to become first state to ban discriminating against natural hair
The Crown Act, will strictly prohibit racial discrimination based on hair that continuously effect Black people. This act specifically will stop bans on certain styles, such as Afros, braids, twists, cornrows and dreadlocks.
Gov. Newsom saw the need for a bill like this after a Black teenage wrestler was forced to cut his dreadlocks off or forfeit a match. This hard decision forced the student to choose between two things, “lose an athletic competition or lose his identity,” Newsom told the LA Times.
“That is played out in workplaces, it’s played out in schools — not just in athletic competitions and settings — every single day all across America in ways that are subtle, in ways overt,” Newsom said Wednesday morning at the Capitol in Sacramento.
READ MORE: California teens arrested for the brutal beating of a special ed student
But The Crown Act’s name didn’t just happen over night, some thought was out into it. Crown is actually an acronym meaning, Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair, Vox News reported.
Supporters of the act say its acronym is just what the work place needs to open the doors of acceptance for all types of hair.
Sen. Holly Mitchell (D-Los Angeles) who also has dredlocs, says this act will protect natural hairstyles without fear or repercussions in the work place. Students will be able to go to school, and employees can work freely without feeling the need to change their appearance for other’s “comfort level”, Mitchell said.
“For us, it is a symbol of who we are. I know when I locked 15 years ago, I knew it was both a social and political statement to the outside world,” she said.
This bill has sparked other states to create bills that are just like The Crown Act. New York and New Jersey adopted legislation similar to The Crown Act in June.
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Meghan Markle makes surprise appearance at Wimbledon to support friend Serena Williams
Wimbledon has had its shared of surprises so far, but Meghan Markle added one more when she showed up at the tennis championship competition on Thursday to support her friend, Serena Williams.
The Duchess of Sussex joined the crowd to cheer on Williams in her round two match against Slovenia’s Kaja Juvan, reported Entertainment Tonight.
READ MORE: Serena Williams speaks on tennis career: “I feel like nothing’s going to stop me”
Meghan smiled often and cheered Williams on. The duchess was captured laughing and getting caught up with friends Genevieve Hillis and Lindsay Roth, who both attended Northwestern University with Markle.
This was one of only a few appearances Meghan has made since giving birth to son, Archie, with her husband, Prince Harry. She looked casual yet stylish in jeans, a black t-shirt from Lavender Hill Clothing and a L’Agence white blazer. Meghan accessorized with sunglasses from Finlay & Co, Pippa Small earrings and a fedora-style hat by Madewell. The hat is reportedly still listed as available on the Madewell site, according to the fashion site Meghan’s Mirror, which provides details on Meghan’s daily attire.
READ MORE: Meghan Markle makes first appearance as new mom at Trooping the Colour
Although no one knew this would be the particular game, ET says a source told the outlet that Meghan would come out to see Serena play, adding that the only thing that would have prevented the duchess from coming to support her friend was if baby Archie kept “her home last minute.”
A few days ago, Meghan’s sister-in-law, Kate Middleton, also attended the Wimbledon tournament. Last year, Meghan and Kate attended Wimbledon together to catch the match between Serena and Angelique Kerber. Williams lost that match.
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Nipsey Hussle’s brother and mom want co-guardianship of his young daughter
Nipsey Hussle’s mother and brother are joining are attempting to gain co-guardianship of the late rapper’s 10-year-old daughter.
Samantha Smith, Hussle’s sister who was already in a court battle for co-guardianship with Tanisha Foster, mother of Emani Asghedom, filed an amended petition with the court adding Samiel Asghedom (known as Blacc Sam), and Angelique Smith to the document, according to The Blast.
READ MORE: Nipsey Hussle’s daughter to remain with sister of slain rapper, judge rules
In the legal document, obtained by website, Samantha Smith states that she, Samiel and Angelique have been a “constant and strong presence in Emani’s life. They have participated in her care and upbringing since her birth. Since the unfortunate murder of Emani’s father in March 2019, Samiel and Angelique have assisted in providing care for Emani.”
The document adds “the request to appoint Samuel and Angelique as co-guardians is, per the recommendation of Minor’s Counsel, a form of ‘insurance policy’ so that should anything happen to one of Emani’s guardians, other guardians are already in place to continue in providing for Emani’s care without having to return to Court.”
However, Foster is against this move. In court documents, she said she is Emani’s mother and believes the “Law and Policy of this state favors the protection of the rights of natural parents and their children. Objector has statutory priority over petitioner.”
Foster said that Emani was visiting her dad on the day he was killed and that the family now refuses to return her.
Smith “unlawfully took the minor and as of this date, despite objectors demand, refused to return the minor to Objector.”
Foster adds in the document that Emani’s “best interests” are not being served by this “act of removing the minor from her mother’s custody; and by refusing contact between minor and mother.”
Hussle, born Ermias Asghedom, died intestate, meaning he did not have a will at the time of his death, leaving the issue of custody of his daughter in the air since the girl’s mother has been trying to win it back.
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Biden says Kamala Harris’ attack at the Democratic debate caught him off-guard
Former Vice President Joe Biden says he was shocked at the way Sen. Kamala Harris came at him during the Democratic debate.
“I was prepared for them to come after me,” Biden explained in an exclusive interview on CNN. “But I wasn’t prepared for the person coming after me the way she came after me. She knew Beau, she knows me.”
READ MORE: Did Kamala Harris backpedal a bit on the issue of school busing?
Biden’s son, Beau Biden, who died in 2015, was a state attorney general like Harris.
During the CNN interview, Biden defended his past record on race and busing.
“It’s so easy to go back 30, 40, 50 years and take (his position) completely out of context,” Biden said, adding that his campaign also gets dirt on other candidates’ pasts but vowed to not go down that road. “I get all this info about other people’s past and what they’ve done and not done and I’m just not gonna go there. We should be debating what we do from here.”
“What I didn’t want to do was get into that scrum,” Biden added.
During last week’s Democratic debate, Harris brought up that Biden was a critic of busing to desegregate schools when he was a senator in the 1970s and 80s, and Harris also mentioned previous comments Biden made about how he could work with segregationist senators.
READ MORE: New 2020 Democratic poll reveals Harris and Warren tied for third place
But Biden told Cuomo that Harris’ accusations were a distortion of his record.
Biden explained that he supports “voluntary” school busing and busing when a court could prove that there were actions to keep schools segregated, but that he was against busing that was mandated by “unelected” officials.
“Busing did not work,” he said. “You had overwhelming response from the African-American community in my state…they did not support it.”
In the 1970s and 80s, Biden was an outspoken critic of federally mandated busing. Back then, he even sponsored a congressional measure that would have imposed funding limits for federal busing.
READ MORE: Top 5 winning moments from Sen. Kamala Harris during her first 2020 Democratic Debate
During the debate, Harris discussed her own experience with being bused in the 1970s as an elementary school student growing up in Berkeley, Calif., and said busing enabled her to get a great education.
Last week, Harris seemed to favor federal power to force school districts to bus but this week, she has said the decision should be made by local school districts.
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Post-Pride Month Reflections: ‘I Check All Boxes… Including the LGBTQ One’
I check all the boxes. I’m African American, I’m a woman, I’m left-handed, I’m divorced, and I’m bi-sexual. For many reasons, there has always been one area of my diverse self that I haven’t been comfortable discussing outside of close friends and family: My sexuality. I never felt it was anyone’s business. I worried about how I would be perceived. I wondered if it would affect my business. Now, as I’m traveling back from New Jersey after a speaking engagement where I spoke about unconscious bias in the LGBTQ community, it feels like it’s time.
I didn’t fit in with …
I have never felt as if I “belong” or “fit in” with the LGBTQ community. As an African American, with so many serious inequities and issues in my own community, LGBTQ issues have never felt like my fight.
Regarding transgender people, I was fascinated and perplexed with trying to understand what would drive someone to go through the psychological and mental challenges as well as the painful surgeries to be someone else. I also tried to avoid transgender people because I didn’t want to offend them as I tried to figure out the correct pronoun to use.
I have heard so many horror stories from friends who were kicked out of their homes, even as kids. When you take the time to research LGBTQ issues, you will learn of countless stories that will make you question humanity—a gay couple kicked out of an Uber car on a dangerous street in the early morning hours; a transgender woman who was not allowed access into 12 different hotels and had to sleep under a lifeguard station—people assaulted, followed, constantly harassed; and even killed simply for living their lives.
Stop hating, show love
I have worked in diversity and inclusion for over 20 years. It doesn’t matter what field you work in, we are all guilty of bias, but we can all fix it “if” we want to.
I confronted my bias and uneasiness around the transgender community by inviting a trans woman to lunch. We had some of the same concerns and thoughts. We laughed together. Most importantly, she became a person to me and no longer a label. I learned that the challenges and surgeries endured were so they could be themselves instead of someone else. I no longer avoid people in the transgender community. If I don’t know which pronoun to use, I simply ask, “how would you like to be addressed?”
June marked Pride Month for the LGBTQ community and Juneteenth for the African American community. As a 44-year-old African American black woman who is divorced, left-handed, and in a relationship with a woman for the past 11 years—I no longer care. I am living my authentic life on my terms. I have pride in myself, in my life, and in all groups that I represent. There are still things I don’t understand about people but that’s OK. I now recognize that my fight is anywhere people are treated inhumanely.
Stop hating on people because you don’t understand them. Stop making quick judgments based on what you don’t know. Be intentional about confronting the biases you have. Show unconditional love—I mean the total acceptance of humanity kind of love. You never know when you will need it in return.
The ideas and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author’s and not necessarily the opinion of Black Enterprise.
Black Enterprise Contributors Network
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Sudanese people celebrate agreement reached to end deadly military standoff
Sudanese citizens took to the streets on Friday to celebrate the end to a deadly standoff between the ruling Transitional Military Council and the opposition alliance.
After several weeks of unrest and fighting, Sudan’s military leadership and the country’s pro-democracy movement have struck an agreement to create a joint sovereign council that will be made up of five military members and five civilians and an additional civilian agreed upon by both sides. The council will govern “for the next three years or a little longer,” Mohamed el-Hassan Labat, the African Union’s envoy to Sudan, said on Friday, according to CNN.
READ MORE: After coup, Sudan protest leaders wish to dismantle the ‘deep state’
Happy citizens spilled out on the streets of Khartoum to celebrate.
“Today our revolution has won and it waves the flags of victory,” the opposition Declaration of Freedom and Change Forces (DFCF) said, according to CNN.
The two sides will also jointly launch an investigation into the deadly street violence that has occurred since President Omar al-Bashir was ousted in April. More than 100 protesters were fatally gunned down — including 19 children — after security forces shut down a protest camp outside of Khartoum’s military headquarters early last month, causing talks to officially shut down. In addition to the killings, more than 70 women and men were raped and more than 700 people were injured in the attack.
Bashir was indicted in Darfur by the International Criminal Court for war crimes and committing crimes against humanity.
The government of Ethiopia and the African Union serve as mediators and helped to broker the joint sovereign council, Labat told media outlets.
Under the newly formed deal, the Sudan military council will be in charge of the country’s leadership for the first 21 months. And a civilian administration will rule the council during the following 18 months, CNN reported.
READ MORE: Sudan: Rapes took place amid the deadly attacks in Khartoum, doctors say
The United Nations’ Human Rights Council is also launching an independent investigation into the brutal June attacks.
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Idris Elba calls claims that two women were pushed from his play “frustrating”
Idris Elba responded to the claims of two female writers that they were not acknowledged for their contributions to his play Tree, calling the accusations “frustrating.”
“We wanted to offer an opportunity to support these new writers while creating a piece of work and scale and to a director’s vision,” Elba posted on Twitter. “The outcome is an accusation of plagiarism and discrimination. However frustrating this has been for all, we will continue to offer opportunities and to support the next generation of writers and talent.”
READ MORE: Idris Elba doesn’t want the the burden of a failed Bond movie on his shoulders
Tori Allen-Martin and Sarah Henley published a statement on Medium outlining their gripes about what they say is their removal from Tree, and for not being credited for their initial work since producers reworked their ideas.
“In this post, we’re going to explain what happened so that we can stand-up to those responsible — the same people who we initially trusted, who then threatened us with legal action if we spoke up,” the statement reads in part. “It’s worth mentioning that this whole process has been terribly upsetting and we’ve felt terrified about speaking out, but we want to be the change we want to see, and ultimately have been left with no choice because those involved fail to accept that we have a claim.”
The musical premiered on Thursday at the Manchester International Festival. Elba and director Kwame Kwei-Armah are listed as creators. Incorporating music and dance, Tree follows a man as he journeys into South Africa, according to Variety.
Both sides say Elba’s “mi Mandela” album was the impetus for the stage play, but that’s where the agreement stops. Allen-Martin and Henley say their work is still heavily influenced in the play while Elba and his producers said they went in a different direction after Allen-Martin and Henley’s left the play.
READ MORE: Idris Elba opens up about about fatherhood ‘I’m super doting as a dad’
“As new ambitions started to be proposed as the jumping off point for development, Tori & Sarah decided they didn’t want to pursue the early thoughts and declined to work any further on the project,” Elba said in his statement. “We were left without any writers and had to start work very quickly, which is our contractual right as beholder of the original idea, the album.”
The actor said Allen-Martin and Henley are still included in the play’s acknowledgements.
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Viral video ice cream licker could face 20 years behind bars, police say as they close in
Police say they know the identity of the woman in a viral video who opened a half-gallon tub of Blue Bell ice cream viral video, licked it and placed it back inside the store freezer case at a Walmart in Lufkin, Tex., according to USA Today. As authorities close in, she could be facing a stiff penalty for the act.
Blue Bell Creameries, intent on locating the suspect, contacted Lufkin police after learning the store’s location. The company determined this by asking each of its division managers to review their ice cream displays to see if they resemble the setup of the one on the video.
A Lufkin division manager pinpointed that the video was taken at a Walmart in Lufkin due to “the store’s unique merchandising, which matched the video,” police said in a Facebook post.
Police say the prison term the woman could face is significant.
Lufkin police emailed a statement to USA Today, in which police wrote, “Tampering with a consumer product is a second-degree felony and carries a punishment range of 2-20 years. The department is consulting with the FDA and federal charges may also be pending.”
Police added that they are “appalled” and taking the crime “incredibly seriously.”
Blue Bell also took extra precautionary measures in removing the tub of ice cream licked by the woman, as well as all half-gallon containers of “Tin Roof” ice cream from Walmart, police said.
“The safety of our ice cream is our highest priority, and we work hard to maintain the highest level of confidence of our customers,” Blue Bell said in a statement to USA TODAY. “Food tampering is not a joke, and we will not tolerate tampering with our products. We are grateful to the customers who alerted us and provided us with information.”
The viral video, posted to Twitter on June 29, has been viewed more than 11 million times.
What kinda psychopathic behavior is this?! pic.twitter.com/T8AIdGpmuS
— Optimus Primal (@BlindDensetsu) June 29, 2019
Lufkin police honed in on surveillance video and has found a woman matching the description of the woman in the video. Police have so far not released her name, pending the investigation.
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‘The longest earthquake I’ve ever experienced’: Ava DuVernay, other celebs tweet about 6.4 Calfornia temblor
The July 4th 6.4 magnitude earthquake that struck Southern California had the entire region rocked with people as far as Las Vegas feeling the temblor. With the quake, several celebs took to social media to talk about what they felt.
Ava DuVernay, Gabrielle Union, Mariah Carey, and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson were all rattled by the seismic event that struck near the Mojave Desert, just a short distance from Los Angeles. The U.S. Geological Survey initially reported it as being a 6.6 magnitude quake.
READ MORE: Ava DuVernay gets a new anthology series, ‘Cherish The Day’ on OWN
DuVernay, a native Angeleno, said although she’s experienced earthquakes before, this one literally broke new ground.
Been living in Los Angeles all my life. That was the longest earthquake I’ve ever experienced. Not jerky. Smooth and rolling. But it was loooong. It was so long I thought for the first time ever “Is this the big one?” Damn. Respect Mother Nature. She’s the boss.
— Ava DuVernay (@ava) July 4, 2019
But Carey, coming from New York, Carey said she is not use to earthquakes and wondered what to do.
I was like… Do I roll out of bed and get to the doorway? I'm from New York, I can't handle this! https://t.co/6eNWOFfubu
— Mariah Carey (@MariahCarey) July 4, 2019
Union added a bit of levity to the scary moment.
The fact that I experienced that longass earthquake while on the toilet at the gym…and immediately blamed the celery juice, is about right. Lordt.
— Gabrielle Union (@itsgabrielleu) July 4, 2019
Meanwhile Johnson was thinking of others and praying that everyone was ok.
6.6 is strong. We felt a lil’ movement here in the valley, but all good. Prayers to those in D valley, Bakersfield, S Valley, Kern etc. Be safe, stay prepared. #mothernature
— Dwayne Johnson (@TheRock) July 4, 2019
The quake touched down about 150 miles from LA near the town of Ridgecrest, California, which is also close to the Mojave Desert. Some 15 million people reportedly felt it. The town of Ridgecrest declared a state of Emergency on Thursday, according to The Hollywood Reporter. More quakes could be in store in the coming days, seismologists say.
“We should be expecting lots of aftershocks and some of them will be bigger than the 3s we’ve been having so far,” U.S. Geological Survey seismologist Lucy Jones told a news conference. “I think the chance of having a magnitude 5…is probably greater than 50-50,” she said.
The quake could be felt across Nevada and up the Pacific Coast in California. Only few injuries and minimal damage was reported. But Patients at Ridgecrest Regional Hospital were evacuated “out of an abundance of caution,” hospital Chief Executive James Suver told the Lost Angeles Times.
Lester Holt of NBC News has seen his fair share of weather disasters just by being a news anchor. On Thursday, Holt reported from Santa Monica, and described what the earthquake felt like.
"The strange thing about this one is it kept rolling and rolling and rolling."
.@LesterHoltNBC describes what he felt during the #earthquake that just happened in Southern California.
MORE: https://t.co/OYn2ojfGt5 pic.twitter.com/QRqDHamiut
— NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt (@NBCNightlyNews) July 4, 2019
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