Up to 50 people, "most of them young", may have been killed by the mine collapse in DR Congo.
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Saturday, September 12, 2020
Dr. Anthony Harris On How Employers And Managers Can Support Employee’s Mental Health Issues Amid COVID-19
For Mental Health Awareness week, BLACK ENTERPRISE is interviewing numerous individuals within the wellness community to talk about the racial disparities that affect the Black community in the hopes of creating a safe place to talk about mental health.
According to the World Economic Forum, 1 in 4 Americans has reported issues with depression and anxiety as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The rate of cases of adults dealing with mental health-related issues since COVID-19 climbed to 27.8% by mid-April 2020. Finances have been attributed to one of the leading causes of driving their depression as a result of job loss from the viral outbreak.
Dr. Anthony Harris is the chief innovation officer and associate medical director for WorkCare, a physician-directed occupational health company aimed at helping businesses practice healthy procedures and attitudes in the workplace, including mental health. In an interview with BLACK ENTERPRISE, Dr. Harris discusses how businesses and managers have had to learn to work with their employees who may be struggling internally due to the public health crisis.
BE: How can business owners be there for employees who are dealing with mental health issues?
Dr. Harris: I think businesses can be checking in on their employees to see how they are doing. Some people are more affected by what’s going on, some have family members that might be getting sick so just checking in to see if there is anything they can do to help. This even includes giving them access to resources that can help.
At WorkCare, we can do initial assessments for employees and then give them recommendations for what their next step should be based on the assessment— we call it Mental Health Well Checks & Triage. Mental health disorders, such as depression, are being regarded as the next impending pandemic resultant from social disconnectedness during current COVID-19 conditions. Taking a proactive approach to identifying those amongst your employees who may need assistance will be key to maintaining a strong, productive remote workforce.
What initiatives can managers implement to make sure employees are prioritizing their mental health?
Managers should encourage their employees to reach out to people they are comfortable with and talk about whatever they could be struggling with. Maybe even reach out professionally too. Optimal mental health boosts workplace productivity so it’s something that managers should care about and think about with their employees. Initiatives such as Mental Health Well Checks performed by trained clinicians can be an affordable intervention that surveys individuals and triages them appropriately to resources and clinicians that can identify ways to help.
Why is important to have conservation on mental health with your workforce?
Having these conversations creates a better camaraderie between you and your team as well as building up your team so that they can feel better working together and feel better about their work performance. Mental health isn’t something that just turns off when you get to work and we become robots, it very much affects our work and our relationships there so it only seems natural that it should be something we hold each other accountable for.
Moreover, when the situation calls for it, it’s important to recognize as an employer when the conversation with employees should transition from HR to a trained clinician. Solutions are emerging that make such a transition easy and natural for both employers and employees.
Do you think COVID-19 will inspire more businesses to provide more mental health resources?
Absolutely. People are working from home which creates quite a bit of isolation, a factor that typically exacerbates already existing mental health issues. Businesses are learning to reach out in different and more creative ways to check in on their people.
There is no more ‘talking at the water cooler’ so it requires more intentionality to keep up with your co-workers and employees. We have already seen the increased partnerships between businesses and providers to serve workers in the community toward mental health wellness.
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Cobra Kai School Fight Scene | SHOT BY SHOT | Netflix
Xolo Maridueña, Tanner Buchanan, Mary Mouser, & Peyton List from Cobra Kai break down the epic school fight scene in season 2, shot by shot. Watch Cobra Kai Season 2 on Netflix now. Watch Cobra kai, Only on Netflix: https://ift.tt/34LWhPL SUBSCRIBE: http://bit.ly/29qBUt7 About Netflix: Netflix is the world's leading streaming entertainment service with 193 million paid memberships in over 190 countries enjoying TV series, documentaries and feature films across a wide variety of genres and languages. Members can watch as much as they want, anytime, anywhere, on any internet-connected screen. Members can play, pause and resume watching, all without commercials or commitments. Cobra Kai School Fight Scene | SHOT BY SHOT | Netflix https://youtube.com/Netflix Johnny continues building a new life, but a face from his past could disrupt his future. Meanwhile, Daniel opens a Miyagi-Do studio to rival Cobra Kai.
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Xolo Maridueña, Tanner Buchanan, Mary Mouser, & Peyton List from Cobra Kai break down the epic school fight scene in season 2, shot by shot. Watch Cobra Kai Season 2 on Netflix now. Watch Cobra kai, Only on Netflix: https://ift.tt/34LWhPL SUBSCRIBE: http://bit.ly/29qBUt7 About Netflix: Netflix is the world's leading streaming entertainment service with 193 million paid memberships in over 190 countries enjoying TV series, documentaries and feature films across a wide variety of genres and languages. Members can watch as much as they want, anytime, anywhere, on any internet-connected screen. Members can play, pause and resume watching, all without commercials or commitments. Cobra Kai School Fight Scene | SHOT BY SHOT | Netflix https://youtube.com/Netflix Johnny continues building a new life, but a face from his past could disrupt his future. Meanwhile, Daniel opens a Miyagi-Do studio to rival Cobra Kai.
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More than 50 killed at collapsed gold mine in eastern Congo: ‘Kamituga is in mourning’
The deadly collapse follows similar tragedies in the country earlier this year where at least 18 people died
KINSHASA, Congo (AP) — More than 50 people are dead after landslides caused the collapse of three artisanal gold mines near the city of Kamituga in eastern Congo’s South Kivu province on Friday, officials said.
Heavy rains for days led to the disaster.
“The diggers and the transporters of the stones were swallowed up by the waters,” said the Kamituga mayor, Alexandre Bundya. “A team of rescuers with motor pumps came to recover the bodies of the victims.”
Diwa Honoré, who survived the tragedy, said more than 50 people had been in the three mines, which are about 50 meters (54 yards) deep.
“Kamituga is in mourning,” wrote Dieudonné Bazika, sharing a video on social media showing the aftermath. Hundreds of people gathered to observe and help in rescue efforts.
Most of the dead were young people, according to a statement from the office of the governor of South Kivu, Theo Ngwabidje Kasi, who offered condolences to families.
READ MORE: What we have to lose with Trump: Honor for Africa and the diaspora
“Investigations continue to identify our deceased compatriots, to provide assistance and to take measures to prevent the recurrence of such tragedies,” the statement said.
Artisanal mining quarries are often unsafe in eastern Congo and the Kasai region. Women and children also work in the mines to make ends meet. Deadly collapses occurred earlier this year in Maniema and in Katanga, killing at least 18 people.
___
Carley Petesch in Dakar, Senegal contributed.
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Georgia deputy placed on leave after viral video captures assault on Black man during arrest: ‘Don’t kill him!’
The Black man can be seen struggling under the weight of two officers as one strikes him multiple times in the face
A video was posted to social media Friday showing a man being assaulted by a deputy sheriff in Clayton County, miles south of Atlanta.
The man was apparently taken from the back seat of a ridesharing car when the assault took place, the caption to the Instagram post publishing the video said.
In the video, two deputies of the Clayton County Sheriff’s Office are seen forcibly restraining a Black man on the road. One sheriff is seen punching the man in his side and his face.
A woman recording the video is heard pleading with the deputies, “Get off of him. Get the f— off of him! No!” and “He said he can’t breathe!” A child’s scream can be heard in the background as the incident plays out.
“Don’t kill him!” she shouted.
The man is seen struggling and eventually his legs flailing as the deputies both lay on top of him.
READ MORE: Teen charged in two Atlanta murders that occurred weeks apart
A third law enforcement officer comes into frame and handcuffs one of the man’s hands as the woman cries out, “He’s bleeding from his nose!”
Once handcuffed, the two deputies get off of the man, whose face was bloodied and who appeared to be unconscious. He is then turned over on his stomach and both his arms are handcuffed behind his back.
A second video from a wider angle was captured by a bystander and posted to Instagram by a friend, Korey Epps. The bystander’s video shows a screaming child running around the officers and eventually getting back into the car.
While filming, the bystander can be heard yelling at the deputies, “Hey, get the f— up off of him!”
While the circumstances which led to the assault are still unclear, several social media accounts state that the man and woman were in a Lyft car, which can be seen in the second video.
READ MORE: Black teenager attacked by corrections deputy(Opens in a new browser tab)
The initial video shot by the woman was posted to Twitter by @davenewworld_2, with the caption, “Police in Georgia pull over a Lyft driver then assault a passenger for not having his ID.”
In the first video taken by the woman, the third law enforcement officer instructs the woman to move back and asks about the vehicle and the driver who was still in the vehicle. “He was giving us a ride,” the woman said of the driver.
The Instagram profile @_passionlove95, who posted the cellphone footage taken by the woman at the scene, identified the man assaulted as her “cousin.” Her post also stated that he was riding in a Lyft with his girlfriend, presumably the woman who recorded the incident.
TheGrio placed a request for comment with the Instagram user. The outlet did not receive a response at time of publish.
The caption stated that the officers asked the passenger for his ID and pulled him out of the car for saying “I’m not driving.”
The Clayton County Sheriff’s office issued a statement that Sheriff Victor Hill has ordered the entire Internal Affairs Unit to “come in and begin an investigation” in regard to the video of the deputy using “physical force on a man.” The deputy was not named.
As of now, one of the deputies from the video, who has yet to be identified, is now on administrative leave pending the investigation.
The health status of the attacked man is unknown at this time.
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A Judge Asked Harvard To Find Out Why So Many Black Residents Are In Prison, Guess What They Found
When a judge tasked researchers at Harvard University to explain why Massachusetts’ Black and Latinx incarceration was so high, a four-year study came up with one conclusion: systemic racism.
In 2016, Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Chief Justice Ralph Gants asked Harvard researchers to “take a hard look at how we can better fulfill our promise to provide equal justice for every litigant.”
Harvard researchers gathered the raw numbers from nearly every government agency in the state’s criminal justice system, examined the data, and researched the disparate outcomes to reach a conclusion Black and Latino men and women in the state already knew.
Harvard Law School’s Criminal Justice Policy Program found that Blacks and Latinos defendants in the state received more severe charges, harsher sentences, and less favorable outcomes than their white counterparts.
Researchers looked at more than one million cases, from the initial charges through conviction and sentencing and discovered disparities that blew their minds.
“White people make up roughly 74% of the Massachusetts population while accounting for 58.7% of cases in our data,” the study explained. “Meanwhile, Black people make up just 6.5% of the Massachusetts population and account for 17.1% of cases.”
Researchers found those numbers are the result of a criminal justice system that treats Black and Latino people unfairly on every level.
Cops in the state are more likely to stop Black and Latino drivers and search or investigate Black and Latino residents. Police charge Black and Latino suspects with infractions that carry harsher penalties and are less likely to offer a plea deal or pre-trial intervention. Judges also sentence Black and Latino defendants to longer prison sentences.
The study also found the average White felon in the state has committed a more severe crime than the average Black inmate.
Researchers also looked at poverty rates, the family structures of convicted felons, and the neighborhoods they lived in. Eventually, they decided systemic racism was the only explanation.
One thing the researchers could not figure out through the data was why Black people are always initially charged with more serious crimes than white people.
Researchers initially thought it was because Black suspects commit worse crimes than white people, but the data disproved that assumption. They also thought prosecutors may be overzealous when it came to convicting violent cases but the data debunked that theory as well.
When they looked at convictions however, they found Black people were surprisingly less likely to be convicted than white people. Basically, a white person has to have done something egregious to be charged while a Black person just has to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
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Netflix on YouTube
Drag Queens Trixie Mattel & Katya React to Away | I Like to Watch | Netflix
Drag queens Trixie Mattel and Katya react to scenes from the Netflix series Away, with Hilary Swank, in this episode of "I Like to Watch". Watch Away, Only on Netflix: https://ift.tt/2FftpEX SUBSCRIBE: http://bit.ly/29qBUt7 About Netflix: Netflix is the world's leading streaming entertainment service with 193 million paid memberships in over 190 countries enjoying TV series, documentaries and feature films across a wide variety of genres and languages. Members can watch as much as they want, anytime, anywhere, on any internet-connected screen. Members can play, pause and resume watching, all without commercials or commitments. Drag Queens Trixie Mattel & Katya React to Away | I Like to Watch | Netflix https://youtube.com/Netflix Commander Emma Green leaves behind her husband and daughter to lead an international crew of astronauts on a perilous three-year mission to Mars.
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Drag queens Trixie Mattel and Katya react to scenes from the Netflix series Away, with Hilary Swank, in this episode of "I Like to Watch". Watch Away, Only on Netflix: https://ift.tt/2FftpEX SUBSCRIBE: http://bit.ly/29qBUt7 About Netflix: Netflix is the world's leading streaming entertainment service with 193 million paid memberships in over 190 countries enjoying TV series, documentaries and feature films across a wide variety of genres and languages. Members can watch as much as they want, anytime, anywhere, on any internet-connected screen. Members can play, pause and resume watching, all without commercials or commitments. Drag Queens Trixie Mattel & Katya React to Away | I Like to Watch | Netflix https://youtube.com/Netflix Commander Emma Green leaves behind her husband and daughter to lead an international crew of astronauts on a perilous three-year mission to Mars.
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T.I. fined $75,000 for role in cryptocurrency scheme
The SEC accused the rapper of being involved in a scheme that produced $2.2 million in profits for an Atlanta film producer
Rapper T.I. has been named in an investigation of a cryptocurrency scheme involving four others.
A Friday press release by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) stated that the Grammy-winning rapper was promoting “unregistered and fraudulent initial coin offerings (ICOs)” led by an Atlanta film producer.
The film producer, Ryan Felton, had been receiving ICOs from people as investments for a streaming service he said he was creating for a company called FLiK, as a digital-asset trading program for a company called CoinSpark.
The SEC indicated that Felton misappropriated those invested funds by using them for personal items. Prosecutors say the items include a $180,000 Ferrari and a $1.5 million mansion, WSB-TV reports.
The SEC’s release state that he pocketed $2.2 million in total profits.
READ MORE: T.I. demands UK firm for reparations after apologizing for role in slavery
T.I., who’s real name is Clifford Harris, Jr., had been promoting FLiK coin offerings as well as selling ICO tokens via his social media. The SEC report also indicated T.I. falsely stated that he was a co-owner of the company.
T.I.’s social media manager, William Sparks, Jr., was also selling FLiK tokens, using the rapper’s social media accounts to do so. Two others, Atlanta residents Chance White and Owen Smith, were also promoting fraudulent tokens from CoinSpark.
None of the four had disclosed that they had each received compensation from promoting the tokens.
READ MORE: T.I. and Killer Mike say they were ‘finessed out some money’ at megachurches
Felton faces criminal charges of “violating registration, antifraud, and anti-manipulation provisions of the federal securities laws,” according to a complaint filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia. WSB-TV reports his investigation is now being conducted by the FBI.
T.I. has been ordered to pay a civil monetary penalty of $75,000 and is barred from selling or participating in digital-asset securities for five years.
Sparks has been charged with violating registration provisions, while he and White have to pay $25,000 in fines.
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Toots Hibbert, beloved reggae star, dead at 77
News of the five-time Grammy nominee’s ill-health comes just weeks after his last known performance for Jamaica’s Independence celebrations
NEW YORK (AP) — Toots Hibbert, one of reggae’s founders and most beloved stars who gave the music its name and later helped make it an international movement through such classics as “Pressure Drop,” “Monkey Man” and “Funky Kingston,” has died. He was 77.
Hibbert, frontman of Toots & the Maytals, had been in a medically-induced coma at a hospital in Kingston since earlier this month. He was admitted in intensive care after complaints of having breathing difficulties according to his publicist. It was revealed in local media that the singer was awaiting results from a COVID-19 test after showing symptoms.
News of the five-time Grammy nominee’s ill-health came just weeks after his last known performance, on a national live-stream during Jamaica’s Emancipation and Independence celebrations in August.
A family statement said Hibbert died Friday at University Hospital of the West Indies in Kingston, Jamaica, surrounded by family.
Ziggy Marley, son of Bob Marley, tweeted about the death saying he spoke with Hibbert a few weeks ago and, “told him how much i loved him we laughed & shared our mutual respect,” adding, “He was a father figure to me.”
A muscular ex-boxer, Hibbert was a bandleader, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and showman whose concerts sometimes ended with dozens of audience members dancing with him on stage. He was also, in the opinion of many, reggae’s greatest singer, so deeply spiritual he could transform “Do re mi fa so la ti do” into a hymn. His raspy tenor, uncommonly warm and rough, was likened to the voice of Otis Redding and made him more accessible to American listeners than many reggae artists. Original songs such as “Funky Kingston” and “54-46 That’s My Number” had the emotion and call and response arrangements known to soul and gospel fans. Hibbert even recorded an album of American hits, “Toots In Memphis,” which came out in 1988.
READ MORE: Kool & the Gang member and co-founder Ronald ‘Khalis’ Bell dead at 68
Never as immersed in politics as his friend and great contemporary Bob Marley, Hibbert did invoke heavenly justice in “Pressure Drop,” preach peace in “Revolution,” righteousness in “Bam Bam” and scorn his 1960s drug arrest and imprisonment in “54-46 That’s My Number.” He also captured, like few others, everyday life in Jamaica in the years following its independence from Britain in 1962, whether telling of wedding jitters (“Sweet and Dandy”) or of trying to pay the rent (“Time Tough”). One of his most popular and surprising songs was his reworking of John Denver’s nostalgic “(Take Me Home) Country Roads,” with the setting changed from West Virginia to a world Hibbert knew so well.
___
Almost heaven, West Jamaica
True ridge mountains
Shining down the river
All my friends there
Older than those ridge
Younger than the mountains
Blowin’ like a breeze
___
As with other reggae stars, Hibbert’s following soared after the release of the landmark 1972 film, The Harder They Come, which starred Jimmy Cliff as a poor Jamaican who moves to Kingston and dreams of a career in music. The Jamaican production was a word of mouth hit in the U.S. and the soundtrack, often ranked among the greatest in movie history, included the Maytals’ “Pressure Drop” and “Sweet and Dandy.” Hibbert also appeared in the film, as himself, recording “Sweet and Dandy” in the studio while Cliff’s character looks on with awe. Around the same time, the Maytals signed with Island Records and released the acclaimed album “Funky Kingston,” which the critic Lester Bangs called “the most exciting and diversified set of reggae tunes by a single artist yet released.” (The album would eventually come out in two different versions).
By the mid-1970s, Keith Richards, John Lennon, Eric Clapton and countless other rock stars had become reggae fans and Hibbert would eventually record with some of them. A tribute album from 2004, the Grammy-winning “True Love,” included cameos by Richards, Bonnie Raitt, Ryan Adams and Jeff Beck. Hibbert also was the subject of a 2011 BBC documentary, Reggae Got Soul, with Clapton, Richards and Willie Nelson among the commentators.
A guest appearance on “Saturday Night Live” in 2004 brought Hibbert an unexpected admirer, the show’s guest host, Donald Trump, who in his book “Think Like a Billionaire” recalled hearing the Maytals rehearse: “My daughter Ivanka had told me how great they were, and she was right. The music relaxed me, and surprisingly, I was not nervous.”
The Maytals originally were a vocal trio featuring Hibbert, Henry “Raleigh” Gordon and Nathaniel “Jerry” Mathias, with the group later adding such instrumentalists as bassist Jackie Jackson and drummer Paul Douglas. They broke up in the early 1980s, but the following decade Hibbert began working with a new lineup of Maytals.
Hibbert’s career was halted in 2013 after he sustained a head injury from a vodka bottle thrown during a concert in Richmond, Virginia, and suffered from headaches and depression. But by the end of the decade he was performing again and in 2020 he released another album, “Got To Be Tough,” which included contributions from Ziggy Marley and Ringo Starr, whose son, Zak Starkey, served as co-producer.
READ MORE: Former WWE wrestler James ‘Kamala’ Harris dead at 70
Grammy nominations for Hibbert included best reggae album of 2012 for “Reggae Got Soul” and best reggae album of 2007 for “Light Your Light.” Hibbert was ranked No. 71 on a Rolling Stone list, compiled in 2008, of the 100 greatest contemporary singers. In 2012, he received the Order of Distinction by the government of Jamaica for outstanding contribution to the country’s music.
Married to his wife, Doreen, for nearly 40 years, Hibbert had eight children, including the reggae performers Junior Hibbert and Leba Hibbert.
Frederick Nathaniel Hibbert (“Toots” was a childhood nickname) was born in May Pen, Parish of Clarendon. He was the son of Seventh-day Adventist ministers and would remember miles-long walks along dirt roads to schools, hours of singing in church and private moments listening to such American stars on the radio as Ray Charles and Elvis Presley.
By adolescence, his parents had died and he had moved to Trench Town in Kingston, where the local music scene was thriving, moving from street parties to recording studios and drawing such future stars as Bob Marley and Desmond Dekker. He formed the Maytals, named for his hometown, with fellow singers Matthias and Gordon, started working with Jamaican record producer Coxsone Dodd and quickly became the star of the national festival competition that started in 1966. The Maytals (eventually renamed Toots & the Maytals) won in the inaugural year with “Bam Bam,” prevailed in 1969 with “Sweet and Dandy” and 1972 with “Pomp and Pride.” Hibbert would joke that he thought it best to start skipping the festival because winning came so easily, although he returned in 2020 with the bright, inspirational “Rise Up Jamaica.”
The Maytals began when ska was the most popular music, continued to rise during the transition to the slowed down rocksteady and were at the very forefront of the faster, more danceable sound of the late ’60s. Their uptempo chant “Do the Reggay” is widely recognized as the song which gave reggae its name, even if the honor was unintended.
“If a girl didn’t look so nice or she wasn’t dressed properly, we used to say she was streggay. I was playing one day and I don’t know why but I started singing: ‘Do the reggay, do the reggay’ — it just stuck,” he told the Daily Star in 2012. “I might have stuck with calling it streggay if I’d thought longer. That’d be something — everyone dancing to streggay music.”
___
Sharlene Hendricks contributed from Jamaica.
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Starbucks Has Officially Abandoned Plastic Straws For Iced Beverages
Starbucks is following up on its commitment to get rid of plastic straws and is bringing in its long-awaited “sippy cup” lids for iced beverages.
The coffee giant announced in July 2018 it would begin phasing out plastic straws from all its stores by 2020, the modified plastic lid with a drinking spout is now making its official debut.
However, blended beverages, including frappuccinos, and other drinks with whipped cream will still come with a domed lid. In places where plastic straws are prohibited by local law, straws with alternative materials will be used.
The straw-free lids will be fully adopted in company-operated and licensed Starbucks stores in both the United States and Canada by the end of the month. The new lids contain 9% less plastic than Starbucks previous flat lid and straw combination. The lids are also made of polypropylene, a commonly accepted recyclable plastic.
“Recyclable, strawless lids for customers across the US and Canada is another step in our journey to reduce our environmental footprint,” Michael Kobori, Starbucks’ chief sustainability officer told CNN. “As we move closer toward our 2030 target of a 50 percent reduction in waste sent to landfills, the long-standing history of innovation within Starbucks, partnership across the industry and changing consumer behavior remain fundamental to our purpose and our prosperity as an organization.”
Plastic straws have been known to increase ocean pollution and microplastics can harm marine wildlife. Starbucks say it’s trying to eliminate more than one billion plastic straws per year.
Miami Beach, Florida; Monmouth Beach, New Jersey, Oakland and Berkeley, California, have all banned the use of disposable plastic straws.
A 2020 study by the academic journal Science Advances said that as of 2015, only 9% of plastics are being recycled, 12% is incinerated and the other 79% ends up in the environment.
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Mom and Daughter Make History, Open Black-Owned Shell Gas Station in Florida
Meet 51-year old Lashawn Flowers and her 35-year old daughter, Shanita Vickers, the new owners of the only Black-owned gas station in Hollywood, Florida, and possibly the only Black-owned gas station in all of South Florida. As Shell franchisees, they are making history as women entrepreneurs and causing quite a stir on social media.
Lashawn and her daughter, who both grew up in Deerfield Beach, Florida, began their roots in entrepreneurship as the owners of a local hair and nail salon called Girlz Collectionz and later a local bar and nightclub called Groove City Bar & Lounge, which is currently closed because of the pandemic. Having to pivot sparked the idea of purchasing a gas station.
“We actually purchased two Shell gas stations,” says Lashawn. “We were able to negotiate a two-for-one deal.”
She says the process of purchasing two franchises was not hard, but it was a fairly tedious process. After completing a credit application, she had to prove that financially she really did have the capital to complete the purchase. The whole process, however, took just three weeks.
Keeping it in the family
Lashawn says that she and her daughter are partners in this business, and are partners in their other businesses as well.
“I really value having a family-owned business because family is who you can trust,” she says. “My daughter, Shanita, is a wonderful mom of two beautiful children and also a phenomenal entrepreneur who is awesome to work with. We work well together because we understand each other.”
Hard work pays off
But having her daughter at her side doesn’t mean that she underestimates the value of hard work. “I don’t believe in failing in anything I do,” Lashawn adds. “If you don’t work your business, it won’t be a success. You absolutely must put in the hard work.”
Their work ethic is already paying off because they are already receiving on-air shout outs from the likes of Rickey Smiley, not to mention that their story has already gone viral on social media which has sparked a huge influx of new customers.
Their Shell gas station is located at 2501 North University Drive, Hollywood, FL 33034, and they are already planning to open their second gas station in early 2021 possibly in West Palm Beach.
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Friday, September 11, 2020
Netflix acquires Halle Berry’s directorial debut, ‘Bruised,’ in 8-figure deal
The script for the MMA drama was originally written for a 25-year-old Irish Catholic girl.
Netflix has secured worldwide rights to Halle Berry’s directorial debut, Bruised.
The drama is screening at the Toronto Film Festival, where Netflix closed up a sale for $20 million ahead of the film’s premiere on Saturday, per Deadline.
The Oscar-winning actress also stars in this tale of a washed-up MMA fighter on a path of redemption amid a bitter custody battle. According to Variety, Berry cracked two ribs while shooting the film. But she wasn’t going to let the pain of her injury derail her dream of directing, theGRIO previously reported.
Read More: Halle Berry on directorial debut, Oscar ‘curse’
“I didn’t want to stop because I had prepared for so long. We had rehearsed; we were ready. So my mind, my director’s mind, was just — keep going. And I compartmentalized that, and I just kept going: ‘I’m not going to stop. I’ve come too far. I’m going to act as if this isn’t hurting. I’m going to will myself through it.’ And so we did.”
The script for Bruised came to Berry three years ago, and was originally written for a 25-year-old Irish Catholic girl.
“I knew as written it could not be me, but what I loved about the story is it was classic fight film,” Berry said. “I loved the fractured brokenness of this character, and I love to see a film that’s about redemption. I want to see the human spirit soar, I want to see someone rise above obstacles and still be standing at the end of the day.”
Berry then set out to “convince the producers, who had the rights to the movie, [that they] should let me reimagine it for a middle-aged Black woman.”
The producers agreed.
Berry said a conversation with her friend, producer Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas, prompted her decision to step behind the camera for her directorial debut.
“I said to her, ‘No one understands what’s in my head, and she said, ‘Why don’t you do it?'” Berry recalled “I slept on it overnight and I woke up thinking ‘Yes, I can.’ I knew I’d worked harder than I ever worked in my entire life on a character, and the last thing I wanted was for all of that work to be for naught and mistakenly fall into the hands of a visionary who didn’t see it quite the way I saw it.”
A Netflix release date for Bruised has yet to be announced.
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NY man finds escaped inmate hiding under sheet in living room
‘I’ve been here for fifteen years and nothing like this has ever happened.’
A 19-year-old federal inmate in Brooklyn is back in custody after police found him hiding under a sheet in a man’s living room following a daring escape.
Police say Jhonny Soto was arrested in Queens on Monday for possessing an illegal firearm that had the manufacturer’s serial number removed. FBI agents were transporting him to the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn on Wednesday when he managed to give them the slip, setting off an hours-long manhunt, ABC7 reports.
Law enforcement put the neighborhood near Fourth Avenue in Sunset Park on alert to keep an eye out for Soto.
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Local resident Stephanie Tatsis told reporters that when she spotted the fugitive with his hands still shackled in her mother-in-law’s back yard, she chased him off with a meat cleaver and called 911.
“He was already on our porch, so I grabbed the meat cleaver and I chased him off the house,” Stefanie Tatsis said, CBS New York reports. “He jumped over and he started doing his jumping over each yard to try to find his escape.”
Tatsis added, “He definitely looked like he was up to no good.”
Hours later, 62-year-old Terry Pierson noticed an “odd lump” underneath a sheet over his weaving loom.
“I grabbed my flashlight, moved the sheet and there’s a face looking back at me. He’s been sitting behind my chair for three hours,” Pierson told reporters. “I went running that way for the police that I knew were in the backyard, hollering, ‘He’s in there, he’s in there.’”
Police rushed in and apprehended Soto.
The FBI confirmed that he is back in custody.
Pierson believes Soto gained access to his home by breaking a screen door in the back of the house.
“I’ve been here for fifteen years and nothing like this has ever happened,” he said.
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Louis Vuitton charging nearly $1,000 for designer face shield
While stylish, the full face shield is not an effective source of protection against the coronavirus.
Louis Vuitton has unveiled a light sensitive face shield that will go on sale in late October for nearly $1,000.
The full face mask is part of the label’s 2021 Cruise Collection, and is described as “an eye-catching headpiece, both stylish and protective,” according to a news release, per Vanity Fair.
The LV Shield is photochromatic, allowing it to transform from clear to dark when in direct sunlight. The shield can also be flipped up and turned into a hat, USA Today reports.
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Louis Vuitton has denied that pricing is listed at $961, noting that no price has been announced yet, according to Business Insider.
The face shield features monogram-trim, gold studs and an elastic head-strap engraved with the brand’s signature logo. While stylish, the LV full face shield is not an effective source of protection against the coronavirus.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) does not recommend the use of face shields amid the pandemic, as they are primarily used for “eye protection for the person wearing it.”
“At this time, it is not known what level of protection a face shield provides to people nearby from the spray of respiratory droplets from the wearer,” the CDC said. “There is currently not enough evidence to support the effectiveness of face shields for source control.”
According to Dr. David Edwards of Harvard University, plastic face coverings are “particularly effective” at blocking airborne respiratory particles, as they don’t completely cover the face.
“With smaller particles, they don’t travel like bullets, they hover in the air and below that face shield you’re still breathing in that air,” Edwards told PEOPLE.
While there are some “pros” to wearing shields, the CDC recommends wearing masks to prevent the spread of the potentially deadly COVID-19 contagion.
“From a purely scientific point of view, if you asked me, a surgical grade mask versus a shield, I would wear a mask,” said Edwards.
The CDC says “face shield wearers should wash their hands before and after removing the face shield and avoid touching their eyes, nose and mouth when removing it.”
Louis Vuitton is the latest luxury brand offering high-end face coverings. Burberry announced its $120 face masks last month.
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