Umaru Bangura is named in the latest Sierra Leone squad as he decides to continue his international career.
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Thursday, November 7, 2019
Family of brain-damaged child wins $101M in medical malpractice case
A jury in Chicago has awarded what will likely be a $101 million verdict to a family whose son suffered brain damage due to medical malpractice.
Gerald Sallis suffered severe brain damage when he went for six hours without oxygen. Cook County jurors found that while Sallis was a fetus in his mother’s womb, West Suburban Medical Center nurses and staff failed to properly monitor her, even after she told them she couldn’t feel her baby move, according to CBS 2.
READ MORE: Dancing Doctor agrees to give up medical license after malpractice suits
Tequila Snow was 34 weeks pregnant when she came to the hospital in 2014. She told CBS 2 she informed the nurses “My baby isn’t moving as he normally does. Something isn’t right,” yet hospital staff didn’t call a doctor and didn’t monitor Sallis’ oxygen levels resulting in him being born with brain damage.
Gerald, who requires around-the-clock care, is five years old but can’t talk or walk. Snow said although he smiles and laughs frequently and is the “bright light of everybody’s lives,” the negligent actions of hospital staff stripped her son of a good quality of life.
“He just isn’t a normal person, and that was taken away from him,” Snow told CBS. “I didn’t think the nurses and people who work at the hospitals didn’t care. I thought they were there to save lives. Instead, they ruined the wonderful family that I was looking forward.”
Snow said the money will give her the ability to bring Gerald home.
READ MORE: Man mistaken as a burglar and shot by police settles case for $750K
“He is all I have, and I’m going now to let him know that he’s coming home very soon,” she said.
CBS 2 reports that the nurse who neglected to check on Snow is still working at the hospital, however the ultrasound tech has retired.
After what the news station called a “record-breaking” verdict, an attorney who represents the company that owns the hospital released a statement that read: “We will not appeal. Although we are obviously disappointed with the jury’s verdict, we respect the will of the jury and wish the Sallis family well.”
The post Family of brain-damaged child wins $101M in medical malpractice case appeared first on theGrio.
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Nicki Minaj put on blast for tweeting she prefers white media over Black media
Nicki Minaj is being called to task for a tweet claiming that online, she is treated better by white people than “the blacks.”
Who are “the blacks” that the rapper is referring to?
Minaj, who has since deleted the troublesome tweet, is believed to have been referring to Black media outlets– specifically, Wendy Williams.
READ MORE: Wendy Williams blasts ex-spouse on live TV after guest Tyrese drops bomb
“What the white ppl post. >>>>>>,” she wrote on November 5, according to Complex. “The blacks only post the few seconds where I raise my voice to push their narrative.”
“The blacks,” including some of Nicki’s fans, weren’t having it.
“The blacks ain’t sitting right with my spirit,” tweeted Hoekage @NelJayy.
The blacks ain’t sitting right with my spirit
— Hoekage🇯🇲 (@NelJayy) November 6, 2019
“You know what..I love your music. But the fact that you said ‘white ppl’ and then refer to us as ‘the blacks’ just furthers the idea that ‘blacks’ aren’t people. That’s an idea that goes wayyy back. I’m mad hurt. Unconscious ideas are a mf. You gotta be aware of what you saying,” tweeted @whooptywooop.
You know what..I love your music. But the fact that you said “white ppl” and then refer to us as “the blacks” just furthers the idea that “blacks” aren’t people. That’s an idea that goes wayyy back. I’m mad hurt. Unconscious ideas are a mf. You gotta be aware of what you saying.
— … (@whooptywooop) November 5, 2019
“Were you not complaining a few years ago about white media degrading black women and painting you as the ‘angry black woman?’ Seems like the music industry only lets coons succeed. Get some therapy before you do more damage to your legacy.”
Were you not complaining a few years ago about white media degrading black women and painting you as the “angry black woman?” Seems like the music industry only lets coons succeed. Get some therapy before you do more damage to your legacy.
— dysonmind (@pinginginging) November 6, 2019
The Queen Radio rapper’s tweet seems to be her response to an ongoing rift with Williams and the ensuing media coverage that comes from it. The latest development started when Williams brought up Minaj’s recent wedding to Kenneth Petty and went in on Petty’s criminal background.
READ MORE: Nicki Minaj announces marriage to Kenneth Petty on Instagram
“Now, he served seven years in prison and he’s also a sex offender,” Williams said. “So that means that he — is a manslaughter a killer? Okay, so he’s a killer and a sex offender. Well Nicki, congratulations.”
Minaj responded by bringing up Williams’ adulterous ex-husband, Kevin Hunter and his mistress. Earlier this year, the pair split after Wendy alleged that Hunter had gotten his mistress pregnant.
“So I really wanted to pray for you today, because look at where you are now in your life,” Minaj fired back at Williams. “Look at what age you are. You’re sat up there being vicious all this time, and paid for that man’s mistress all these years. You paid for her shopping sprees, you paid for her hotels, you probably even paid for her GYN bills, you paid to have that baby delivered, hoe.”
Ya’ll.
The post Nicki Minaj put on blast for tweeting she prefers white media over Black media appeared first on theGrio.
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Celebrity Glass Slipper Shoe Designer Jessica Rich Gets Transparent About Her Success
Walking a mile in an entrepreneur’s shoes is no easy feat. Especially when they are in a lane of their own and breaking into industries with high barriers of entry.
Shoe designer and entrepreneur Jessica Rich, founder and CEO of The Jessica Rich Collection, has had that experience firsthand. Rich gracefully transitioned from the world of media and entertainment as a former TV personality to a designer of some of the most sought out stilettos on the market. Artists like Cardi B, Jennifer Lopez, Fantasia, and others can be found strutting in her transparent heeled sandals and pumps.
Before Rich became a self-taught designer, she was monetizing her industry contacts to work as a fashion PR professional and had a passion for fashion since childhood. Fast forward, Rich went on to own a clothing line and has designed for celebrities in the industry like Tami Roman, the Kardashian family, and more.
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Pivot with a purpose
After thinking of ways to pivot from PR to fashion full time, Rich decided to drop her clients and design a shoe line. “The fastest thing I could think of to make money was to drop my PR clients and work toward having my own store.”
Two years ago, she decided to create success as a shoe designer once the clothing side of the fashion industry became saturated. After going to the drawing board, she sought out manufacturers to help bring her stilettos and sandals to life.
“I was in clothing so I knew where to find shoe factories. Once I found them, I got samples from two of them to ensure the quality was up to par. Once I figured that out, I went ahead and produced the full run with that company,” says Rich.
With hard work and dedication, Rich launched her collection online and the high demand to expand from her e-commerce business prompted her to stop working from home, build a team, and open a brick and mortar store.
“I didn’t plan to have a store. I was very content with working out of my house. Once I had like over 100 orders I was shipping out in a day, I thought, now I need a team,” says Rich. After outgrowing a number of office spaces, Rich decided to take a leap of faith and open a store on Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles.
And she says that it was a decision well made.
I can’t imagine not having a store now because of the space that I have. It’s large and we do a lot of things there like TV filming and events. And people who don’t order online ironically still walk into the store. I know a lot of stores are closing now, but people still want to walk in and try on shoes,” says Rich.
Related: 6 Black Fashion Labels to Know, Celebrate, and Support
While Rich may make being a designer and business owner look easy, over the years, she has learned a number of business lessons that keep her grounded and ready for coming opportunities. Two of them being that relationships and consistency is key.
Greatness takes time
One of the ways that Rich has been able to expand her footprint online and in the industry is through her solid brand and reputation of being persistent. As a result of her business savvy and strong brand, Rich landed a retailing deal with Macy’s after pitching to other companies.
The Rich Collection’s Macy’s Mule
When she reflects on that process, “Christian Louboutin didn’t become Christian Louboutin overnight,” is what comes to mind. And that is what motivated her. Rich’s transparent stiletto mule can be found in Macy’s stores all over.
And with the popularity of her shoes, Rich has made sure to patent certain styles as other designers and retailers attempt to duplicate them.
“We do send cease and desist letters out because different factories will replicate our shoes without knowing that the style is mine and patented. So after we contact the stores, they’ll stop selling on my behalf because they don’t want a lawsuit.”
All things considered, Rich says that while she prayed to be successful, she didn’t imagine the number of accomplishments she’s made as a businesswoman over the last year.
“I had different companies that I did this for that got the success and I was just stuck with nothing. I didn’t walk away with a percentage of the company or anything. I was very depressed about it. Like, wow, what about now? I had to figure it out on my own, you know, so it feels good to know I am where I am supposed to be,” says Rich.
To those looking to follow their dreams, she encourages them to invest in their dreams and go for it.
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Wednesday, November 6, 2019
The technology of enchantment
An audible gasp goes through the classroom as Seth Riskin, manager of the MIT Museum Studio and Compton Gallery, uses his hand to trace streams of light through the empty air. The illusion is a simple one: Gradually turning up the speed on a strobe light, Riskin creates the visual magic by sweeping his hand through the rapidly changing beam.
A strobe light is hardly the most advanced technology found in an MIT lab, but as co-instructor and professor of anthropology Graham Jones comments, “In 10 years of teaching at MIT, I’ve never heard a whole classroom gasp like that.”
However basic, Riskin’s deft manipulation of light produces a profound effect, one that the students experience collectively in a moment of surprise and wonder. That’s what a new anthropology class, 21A.S01 (Paranormal Machines), is all about: exploring the human experience of the disconcerting and the uncanny in relation to technology and discovering how people and cultures build stories and beliefs around out-of-the ordinary experiences.
Working across disciplines
In everyday parlance, the word paranormal usually refers to the phantasmal world of ghost hunters and clairvoyants. But Riskin and Jones use the word differently, and more fundamentally, to encompass qualities of human experience that challenge our typical expectations and perceptions. It turns out that this is a great topic of mutual inquiry for the arts, with their capacity to create new and transformative experiences, and anthropology, a science that studies the diversity of experience. “When we explore the overlap of art and anthropology," says Riskin, “we find deep and complex connections.”
A cross-disciplinary class development grant from MIT’s Center for Art, Science and Technology (CAST) allowed Riskin and Jones to make this timely exploration. The qualities of experience that students in 21A.S01 are studying have a new relevance in our era, as artificial intelligence becomes ever more a part of our daily lives and we begin to encounter machines that seem to think, see, and understand — that can seem to have a life of their own. People perceive and experience such technology in a wide range of ways, including with wonder, anxiety, excitement, delight, fear, uncertainty, and affection.
Experiential learning
Students in the course are making anthropological and artistic explorations of such perceptions, using a humanistic lens to better understand our evolving relationship to technology. The experiences generated in the class give students a chance to consider the ways human beings make meaning around multilayered and enigmatic experiences, including interactions with advanced technologies.
“The students are learning about the course content experientially,” says Riskin. “It’s a new method for many of the students that draws on art practice and perception.” 21A.S01 asks students to use a mix of creative interpretation, theoretical understanding, and personal reflection as well as technical knowledge and information.
“This approach allows us to learn along with our students,” Jones adds. “I’m constantly discovering things that enrich my anthropological understanding, and that I want to fold back into future iterations of the class. This is precisely why CAST’s support is so transformative.”
Students in the course are first introduced to anthropological readings and artistic creations — from kinetic art to ritual objects — then strive to develop an understanding of how the human mind can perceive these works as alive, aware, or responsive. CAST’s support also ensures that students have the resources to develop their own demos and engineer experiences that can produce wonder, uncertainty, or fascination.
A laboratory for the visual arts
The course runs in the MIT Museum Studio and Compton Gallery, a bustling, glass-walled workshop and experimental exhibition gallery in Building 10 operated by the MIT Museum.
Home to a creative community of practice exploring commonalities between scientific and artistic methods, the space dazzles with the lights and sounds of large-scale technological art pieces made by past students. Divided into alternating studio sessions and seminars, led respectively by Riskin and Jones, the course was developed by the two instructors collaboratively. “What’s interesting to us is looking at the kind of uncanny experiences or perceptions that can give rise to complex beliefs,” says Jones.
“When you write about those things in an anthropological text you’re containing the power of the experience with language, analysis, and critical commentary,” he adds. “A part of what we wanted to explore with technological works of art is the possibility of engendering those kinds of experiences and perceptions and dwelling on them, focusing on experiencing their power.”
“We talk about the minimal amount of signal it takes for something to be perceived as human-like,” says class member Erica Yuen, a second-year graduate student in the MEng program. “Turns out that it doesn’t take that much. The course has challenged my perception of reality because it has shown that we project our past experiences onto ambiguous signals to create a story.”
Engineering emotive machines?
In one studio session focused on abstraction and ambiguity, students are presented with a thin sheet of translucent paper and an array of small lights. Using webcams and other sensors, the students can create real-time variations in the lights misted by paper. At the end of the studio session, one group has created a simple, soft glowing orb that used ultrasonic signals to detect movement. If someone moves too quickly or got too close, the orb vanishes, only to slowly reappear elsewhere on the array. Presenting the creation to the class, a fidget too close to the sensors means that the entire apparatus went dark.
“Careful,” says one student, “you’re scaring it!”
Why do we assign emotion and narrative to nonhuman, nonnarrative visuals? That’s one of the foundational questions of the course, and to begin to answer it, students explore the moments of ambiguity where those perceptions begin.
“Artists are interested in playing with states of indeterminacy or states of ambiguity,” says Jones. “Often the best art is powerful precisely because it can’t be resolved into any one simple interpretation, and the value of the artwork really hinges on the possibility that multiple interpretations might simultaneously be true, and not mutually exclusive. We’re trying to carve out a complementary space between anthropological ideas and artistic expression — in terms of these experiential moments of interpretive uncertainty.”
In one studio session focused on ambiguous mechanical motion, Liv Koslow, a senior majoring in mathematics, shows off her team’s demo: reacting to speed and proximity, the different materials of their mechanism move — some predictably, some unpredictably. While the machine doesn’t have a function the way that, say, a Roomba or a surveillance drone might, Koslow explains that the principle of its interaction with humans is the same: The machine is designed to immediately indicate an ability to sense and react — except in this case, it’s also conveying the appearance of emotive behavior.
The students don’t only work with ambiguity around machines’ perceived behavior. Using a metallic material that, through simple pressure changes, can be made to appear fluid, Ether Bezugla, a sophomore majoring in electrical engineering and computer science, demonstrates how design elements can elevate or manipulate human perception. Bezugla, who was drawn to the class by their interest in exploring ambiguity of the senses, uses this surprising design exercise to “explore the threshold at which a person perceives abnormality” and begins trying to make meaning to explain it.
The applications of ambiguity
Jones’s anthropological research has long focused on entertainment magic — what we think of as stage magic, tricks, and illusions. 21A.S01 is a departure for him; the class is about wonder, not illusion. Ironically, he says, “some of the fiercest critics of wondrous, enigmatic experiences can be magicians because they understand how easily people can be misled in their beliefs.”
The concepts developed in this course bring key questions and insights about human perception into contact with the cutting edge of human-interfacing technology: How can technologies deepen human experience and enrich the inner landscape? How do we push technology to feel more “alive” or more human? What — as we chat with Alexa or name our Roombas — makes us treat our technology as if it really has a life of its own?
Yuen says the illuminating experiences of the class will inform her work in a computational approach to cognitive sciences. Working with the most minute aspects of perception and reaction, she also plans to apply the experiences of Paranormal Machines to her artwork on ambiguity and facial structures.
Riskin sees the class as a contribution to what MIT President L. Rafael Reif has termed the “bilingual” educational mission at MIT: for students to develop expertise in both technical and humanistic fields and ways of exploring and knowing. “Connecting across disciplinary languages, in this case, art and anthropology, brings precision and method to what we mean by bilingual intelligence and how it adds up in a learning experience,” Riskin says.
Story prepared by SHASS Communications
Editorial Team: Alison Lanier and Emily Hiestand
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PGA WORKS Is Making Sure All Backgrounds Can Access Career Opportunities in Golf
How do you reach the next generation of professionals and let them know about career opportunities they may have never considered?
That’s a question the The PGA of America is working to answer, as it tried to ensure that its workforce mirrors America in terms of diversity. That’s why it has partnered with Black Enterprise for the video podcast series On The Tee, to “grow the game and drive greater inclusion across golf” by showcasing “the successes of people from diverse backgrounds working and playing in the industry.”
In the second episode, PGA’s Chief People Officer Sandy Cross introduces PGA professionals Scooter Clark and Rachel Melendez Mabee to talk about PGA WORKS.
“PGA WORKS is a strategic workforce diversification under PGA REACH, which is the foundation of the PGA of America,” says Mabee, the PGA WORKS program specialist. “It’s really an intentional effort for us to diversify our workforce and inspire and engage people from all backgrounds to learn about careers and opportunities within the golf industry. We want to make sure that we have adequate representation from all backgrounds, from all dimensions of diversity, in our sport and in our workforce.”
That diversification is a priority, given that the golf industry’s workforce, including PGA Membership, is demographically homogenous. The boards, senior leadership, and full time staff are 95%, 97%, and 86% white, respectively.
“The career expo is a career development opportunity for our student-athletes,” says Clark, manager of the PGA WORKS Collegiate Championship. “We typically have 18-22 exhibitors that come to the golf course and speak to the student-athletes about careers in the industry of golf.”
In addition to Collegiate Championship, there are a number of other programs under PGA WORKS, such fellowships and scholarships to let diverse audiences know “there are people that look like them in the industry,” Mabee says.
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