The Michigan Department of Corrections must pay Janika Edmond’s family $860K for their inaction after she told prison officials she was suicidal.Edmond died in 2015 after she used her bra to hang herself in one of the showers at Women's Huron Valley Correctional Facility near Ypsilanti, reports The Detroit Free Press. Before she took her life, Edmond requested a suicide prevention vest but she never received assistance.Instead, according to security camera footage, Diana Callahan, one of the guards, declared "somebody owes me lunch!"Apparently, the guards made a bet on whether or not Edmond would ask for the item. The 25-year-old had a history of mental illness and suicidal ideation. Additionally, the tapes show the guards ignored audible choking noises despite Edmond’s history. After Edmond died, the corrections department broke protocol when they did not tell the Michigan State Police about the death.Callahan was sentenced to six months in prison and two years of probation in December 2018 for involuntary manslaughter. A family member called it a “slap on the wrist.” Moore and prison counselor Kory Moore lost their jobs after Edmond died but the latter was eventually reinstated.U.S. District Court Judge Robert Cleland approved $860K in restitution on Tuesday, reports MLive. Edmond’s two adult brothers will split $549,509.84 and the rest will be used to pay legal fees.Still, the family is reeling from the loss.“No amount of money, obviously, can ever make up for the loss of a loved one,” said family attorney David Steingold.The MDOC has not commented on the...

Some country music fans are threatening to boycott Wrangler jeans following the company’s partnership with rapper Lil Nas X.On May 20, the denim jean maker posted three images on Instagram celebrating the latest collab with the “Old Town Road” artist. There was overwhelming jubilation from Lil Nas X fans. However, there were also several people who saw the partnership as a slight against them. View this post on Instagram Psst...it’s an instant hit. Introducing the new Wrangler Lil Nas X Collection. Follow link in bio. . #WranglerOnMyBooty #WranglerLilNasXA post shared by Wrangler (@wrangler) on May 20, 2019 at 8:39am PDT"If you have any sense, you'll stop production and burn what's left... I don't buy anything made by Levi's after their gun control stance," user @thomasoftheyear said in the comments. "I'll stop buying Wranglers just as quick for this nonsense."Other “true” Wrangler fans claimed the company abandoned them to follow popular trends.“This is how you lose customers,” wrote one person on Instagram. Another outraged jeans wearer wrote the company “went from cowboys to rappers.” According to Page Six, Wrangler’s newfound supporters urged others to purchase jeans from the brand to spite critics.“WRANGLER JUST PARTNERED WITH LIL NAS X AND THE RACIST ARE MAD,” tweeted user @tylerujazy, along with a photo showing some of the posts. “GO BUY UP ALL THE WRANGLER LIL NAS X COLLAB JEANS YOU CAN PEOPLE SUPPORT DIVERSITY.”You kno how them ... nvm pic.twitter.com/JaniVLDdV0— Ju$tina🍬 (@simplyjustina99) May 21, 2019The denim items posted on Wrangler’s Instagram were inspired by “Old Town Road” lyrics. In particular, the line “Wrangler on my booty” appears on a pair of jeans featured in the collaboration. The 20-year-old artist seemed to be dumbfounded by the apparent boycott. Since the beginning of his meteoric rise, Nas X has become subject to unfair criticism from mostly white country music fans. The proposed boycott is an extension of the harassment. y’all really boycotting wrangler?? is it that deep 🧐— nope (@LilNasX) May 21, 2019Wrangler has defended the latest business move. The brand will continue to be dedicated to providing clothing for all people."We do appreciate your feedback," a statement read. "Since 1947, we've offered jeans for a variety of wearers and wearing occasions. Our western heritage and offering quality product for all wearers will always be the very heart of our...

Buffalo Wild Wings is in hot water after a former employee has hit the restaurant chain with a federal lawsuit filled with accusations of racism and discriminator.Garren Lovelace accused his former employer, Buffalo Wild Wings, of widespread racism and discrimination in a federal lawsuit filed on Monday.  According to the Kansas City Star, the lawsuit says white employees at the restaurant often refused to serve Black customers and said "Blacks don’t give good tips.”Lovelace, a 55-year-old Black man, spent 12 years as a cook at a Buffalo Wild Wings in Overland Park, Kansas and said he was generally happy with his job until he reported a superior for sexual harassment in 2016.Everything changed when a new general manager came to the store and almost immediately referred to him as "an angry black man." Other employees began to make racially-charged comments in his presence and despite his complaints no one was ever punished.The general manager, identified as Pat Robben in the lawsuit, repeatedly said Lovelace was old or overpaid and continued to make comments about Lovelace's race.  “Under Robben, numerous racial comments were made but would be dismissed as jokes despite Mr. Lovelace’s repeated complaints about the inappropriateness of such remarks," the lawsuit says."Mr. Lovelace also witnessed management making derogatory comments about African American customers and permit servers to refuse to serve African American employees or provide them with subpar service.”The staff seemed to follow the conduct of Robben and Lovelace says waiters repeatedly spoke disparagingly about Black customers. They even went so far as to refuse to serve some Black customers. Furthermore, they repeatedly made comments claiming that Black people did not tip enough. Lovelace tried to report this to his superiors, but waiters were still allowed to give Black customers subpar service.We can't even eat Hot Wings in peace. Cold game. Kansas Buffalo Wild Wings managers said it’s OK to refuse black customers: lawsuit https://t.co/2EIm8qfjMN— VanLathan (@VanLathan) May 22, 2019 Robben forced Lovelace to complete tougher, more physically-demanding tasks even though he is disabled and had been working for the restaurant for more than a decade. The restaurant refused to give him any raises and routinely gave him difficult shifts he did not want to work. Things got even worse for Lovelace when one of his family members fell ill and he had to take care of them. The store requires employees to call in if they are going to be late and Lovelace says in the lawsuit that he always did, even though other younger, non-Black employees rarely tried to. He was fired in October 2017 and said he believes he is owed money for discrimination.Other workers from the restaurant chimed in on Facebook, writing that Lovelace's criticism was correct."I worked at this [Buffalo Wild Wings] location for nearly four years. Accepting environment to all races it was not," the former employee wrote on Facebook."The victim here is a sweet and kind man, who always brightened up the shift and it hurts my heart that he was discriminated against by the staff who should have been supporting him."A spokesperson for Buffalo Wild Wings told Fox News that they "do not comment on pending litigation specifically.""We take the allegations very seriously and are conducting an internal investigation," they told Fox. "Buffalo Wild Wings values an inclusive environment and we have no tolerance for discrimination of any kind.”He is suing Buffalo Wild Wings and its parent company Inspire Brands for race, age and disability discrimination and is hoping to receive $75,000 for lost wages, benefits and mental and emotional distress. The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in...

Feeling cute? Using that exact caption for your Instagram photo because you can't come up with anything else?Well, two HBCU grads have the answer for such a cyber woe with the Caption Any Photo app. The app came to fruition after co-founder JaBre' Jennings eventually came up with the idea for a class project and created a mock-up of the app. After the app was completed, he and his business partner Juwon Nicholson toured the country with it.“We went up and down the East Coast with it,” Jennings told Technical.ly. Both men attended the University of Maryland Eastern Shore and have certainly made their alma mater proud.UMES alumni JaBre' Jennings & Juwan Nicholson have teamed up to create their app "Caption Any Photo". The mobile app is designed to help users find the best photo captions for social media post. Try it for yourself! Download here:https://t.co/wrzPIHH18c #UMES #HawkPride pic.twitter.com/02eigXxnFB— UMES (@UMESNews) July 16, 2018 Caption Any Photo makes it easy to find the appropriate blurbs by dividing them into categories including homecoming and girls’ night out. The app has over 35K options and many of them come from common sources like song lyrics, according to an interview the men did with FOX45.The app isn’t just for people who wanna flex on Instagram. It could be used as a marketing tool.“We found that a lot of businesses were having a lack of engagement due to not knowing what to post,” Jennings said. “So what our app does is once you find the photo, we give you the quote and caption to actually let you post to social media and increase engagement.”The app is currently available on Apple phones and the team is working on making it available to Android users in June. The pair also want to develop a subscription service for businesses and...

This piece was submitted from a member of our enthusiastic community of readers. If you’re interested in sharing your opinion on any cultural, political or personal topic, check out our how-to post to learn more.My dream of writing a book started around 7th grade. Somehow, I convinced my twelve-year-old self I had what it took to write an inspirational self-help book; never mind the fact that I could barely help myself at that age. I hadn’t even fully gone through puberty, let alone enough life to wax poetic about how other people should live theirs. But I was determined to write that book one way or another.Needless to say, I wrote close to nothing. I can’t remember what exactly happened and when. Knowing me, I probably lost interest after a couple of days. I had big dreams, a short attention span, and zero appreciation for the long, rugged, rejection-littered road that ultimately leads to published authordom. So no good was bound to come of that. Several years later, after finally making it through puberty, I decided to try again. This time around, I had a title: Letters to a Young Traveler: Lessons on Love, Identity, and Peculiar Notions of Everyday Existence. Now a freshman at Harvard, I was going to write a collection of advice letters to young readers trying to find space for themselves in a strange, ever-changing world. And I had such big plans: multiple literary agent offers, millions of copies sold, the New York Times bestsellers’ list.Blavitize your inbox! Join our daily newsletter for fresh stories and breaking news.Unlike last time, I actually finished writing this book. But after receiving tough editorial feedback from friends, going through endless rounds of edits, and being overlooked and rejected by fifty different literary agents, I walked away from it. Making that decision was a lingering devastation; the grief was slow-burning. It didn’t happen all at once. Each rejection brought a fresh, little wave of disappointment.Eventually, I did accept the truth: This book wasn’t what it needed to be, and I wasn’t what I needed to be for it; letting it go was best for the both of us.A couple years later, during my senior year, a friend asked me about the project. After sharing the break-up news with him, he encouraged me to give it a second chance. I said I would consider it, but I had no real intention of doing so. At that point, I was done. Little did I know I was about to embark on a new literary journey that would take me far beyond what I thought was possible then.Shortly after that conversation, I began collecting things I had written over the course of my undergraduate career. Soon enough, this compilation of essays, poems, and short reflections became Timestamp: Musings of an Introverted Black Boy. I didn’t think it would have much commercial value to agents, so I considered self-publishing for the first time. But once senior spring started trying me, I had to set the project aside. And before I knew it, I completely forgot about it. Then, May 7th, 2018 happened.  That day, I received an email from a literary agent I had contacted in December 2016 for my "first” book. Almost a year and a half later, she was just now stumbling upon the query email I had sent her.  And although she initially offered to review the book proposal for Letters to a Young Traveler, she agreed to look at Timestamp instead.Long story short, she loved it and officially became my literary agent.Less than four months later, I secured a book deal with Post Hill Press, an independent publisher distributed through Simon & Schuster. And shortly after that, I signed an audiobook deal with Blackstone Audio, one of the largest independent audiobook publishers in the country. On September 17, 2019, Timestamp: Musings of an Introverted Black Boy will be released in print, eBook, and audiobook format nationwide.Without question, this journey has taught me many lessons. But one of the greatest among them is this truth: rejection isn’t synonymous with inadequacy.When my first manuscript flopped, I questioned whether or not I was good enough to be a published author. After I found a literary agent, I didn’t know if Timestamp was going to make it across the finish line; it was rejected by so many publishers before one finally said yes. And even now, rejection and I are still well acquainted. Every single endorsement I’ve sought for this book has failed to materialize. And yet, none of that matters to me anymore.In this life, we’re often quick to tie our perception of value to the external affirmation we do or don't receive. But ultimately, our talents, gifts, and abilities speak for themselves. If we've been called to do a good work, it will stand tall even in the absence of a "yes” or a platform.  Even if Timestamp didn't get bought by a single publisher, or even if it doesn't receive a single endorsement before it's published this fall, I know the words on those pages are worthy of their existence. They always have been, and always will be.I don’t know how many rejections you've received, or how many doors have been closed in your face. But I’m sharing my story simply to let you know that your goals and visions have already been valued. The minute you birthed them into the world is the minute they became justified. Of course, hone your craft, perfect your gifts, and learn from the rejections. But don't ever think that a "no" or a "we're sorry to inform you" means what you're trying to do, create, or be isn't worthy or good enough. It is good enough. You are good enough. And sooner or later, that dream you have is going to shift atmospheres, move mountains, and most importantly, leave the world better than it was before you dreamed it.This I now know for...

Update (May 23, 2019): On the night police raided a North Carolina woman's home for a noise complaint, there were only 10 officers on duty, nine of them were at her home.On May 16, Mikisa Thompson's home was searched and raided by police after her white neighbor, Don Barnette, claimed she was playing a Malcolm X speech too loudly. Garner Police Officers confiscated a MacBook, an HP laptop, a computer monitor, seven iPhones, computer speakers, an alarm clock, and charging cables around 10 p.m.In a statement sent to The Indy, Captain Joe Binns defended his officers’ actions by stating a speaker was turned in the direction of the neighbor’s home.“Our officers did everything they could at the time to try and bring a peaceful conclusion to this issue before seizing the speaker,” Binns wrote. “First, we warned Ms. Thompson and asked her to turn it down. When she refused and received a second complaint, we issued her a citation for violation of the ordinance. And finally, when she continued the loud and unreasonable noise, a search warrant was obtained and the speaker was seized.”Additionally, Binns said he and his officers were not entirely sure what offended Barnette. Officers assume it was both the volume and the actual content of the Malcolm X speech that riled up the 65-year-old.According to The Indy, the noise ordinance has vague language that allowed police to decide if the accused violated the law. The time in which the ordinance is in effect is between the hours of 11:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. Police were called out at 10 p.m. Barnette claimed Thompson played the speeches as early as 7 a.m. but there is no evidence confirming his accusations. The relationship between the two neighbors has been hostile for some time.The 65-year-old's labrador retriever reportedly killed Thompson's Yorkie in a previous incident. Additionally, in April, Barnette called the police on the Thompson for a similar alleged noise violation.  As a Black person, Thompson feels the police are targeting her family. Garner Police had a previous run-in with her daughter, Takiyah, who was among the activists in the Durham protests in 2017. Since the raid, the victim and her family have relocated to a hotel.Original: A North Carolina woman had her electronics seized in a home raid by Garner Police Department officials after her white neighbor complained that she was listening to Malcolm X speeches too loudly. According to The Indy, the incident occurred Thursday night at 10 p.m. Originally, Mikisa Thompson's children captured the ambush on camera, but video of the incident has since been removed. "The raid was officially insane and based on an unconstitutional statute," Thompson’s attorney, T. Greg Doucette said to The Indy. "Doing a midnight raid with nine officers—over a noise ordinance, of all things—is a disproportionate show of force that shows there’s something else at play. That’s the type of overkill that’s intentionally designed to terrorize and punish people, not to actually do what's necessary for enforcing the case."The news outlet reports that a minimum of six officers remained outside while other blocked traffic on the street. After reading her a search warrant, they nabbed a MacBook, an HP laptop, a computer monitor, seven iPhones, computer speakers, an alarm clock, and charging cables. Law enforcement also charged Thompson with a class-three misdemeanor of violating her city's noise code, which results in a maximum $500 penalty. Per Law & Crime, the grievance was filed by Thompson's 65-year-old neighbor Don Barnette, who complained to authorities that she was playing "amplified speech being projected by some sound amplification device." Barnette presented authorities footage of when Thompson was allegedly blasting the speeches, with time stamps of 12:46 pm, 12:49 p.m., and 1:22 p.m."There was no provocation or warning," Thompson told The Indy. "They were watching the house all day. Garner PD wants to kill me."Barnette insists he's not racist. He claims that he just interpreted the Malcolm X speech Thompson was playing as an "Islamic Jihadist-type message.""I don't have anything against any Black person that acts like they’ve got sense," he told The Indy.Okay, Don.This is not the first time officers have appeared Thompson's home due to a complaint by her neighbor. On April 22, Barnette also phoned police after Thompson was playing "loud Islamic-Muslim preaching" in her backyard while cleaning her deck. When officials arrived that day, officers took off with Thompson's stereo and wrote her a $50 fine. The first application for the warrant on Mikisa Thompson on 4/22/19 for playing Malcolm X then I was raided for another radio on 5/16/19 for playing Malcom X my crime living while Blackhttps://t.co/Ju18HJyF2x https://t.co/3ziFIHrduT— MikisaThompson (@Blackmomrade) May 20, 2019Thompson has been summoned to appear in court on June...

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is seeking to eradicate protections for homeless trans people. On Tuesday, HUD Secretary Ben Carson told Congress he would not be making revisions to the current Equal Access Rule, which guarantees trans people protections in housing. However, his latest decision contradicts the pledge made. According to Politico, a new HUD proposal aims to allow shelters which receive funds from the department, to consider a person’s sex or gender identification to determine if they can be admitted.“Later this year, HUD will be proposing a change to the 2016 rule that will offer local homeless shelter providers greater flexibility when making decisions about individuals who may misrepresent their sex to access sex-specific shelters,” a HUD spokesperson said in a statement to Politico. “HUD is, and will always be, committed to ensuring that every person accessing its programs can do so without discrimination.”The 2016 rule was first implemented by the Obama administration in 2012. Under the policy, trans people were allowed to be placed in shelters by the gender they identified with, not their assigned gender. As The Advocate notes, transgender and gender-nonconforming people tended to experience greater harassment when placed by their assigned gender. They usually turn to the streets instead of staying in a shelter where harassment can be rampant.Under the proposed rule, shelters could use several factors to determine whether a person is admitted. Sex and gender, privacy, safety, practical concerns, religious beliefs are among the criterion. Despite the pushback and criticism, HUD officials claim “the proposed rule does not dictate a required basis for making determinations other than that they are consistent with overall policy.” The new essentially makes it legal to discriminate against people deemed unfit to be in a shelter. According to data from the National Coalition for the Homelessness, members of the LGBT community face homelessness at greater numbers than other people. Almost in every category LGBT are struggling to find permanent housing. About 43% of clients served by drop-in centers identified as LGBT, 30% of street outreach clients are  LGBT and 30% of clients utilizing housing programs are LGBT.Mara Keisling, executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality, took Carson and HUD to task for its harsh new policy. “This is a heartless attack on some of the most vulnerable people in our society,” she said in a press release. “The programs impacted by this rule are life-saving for transgender people, particularly youth rejected by their families, and a lack of stable housing fuels the violence and abuse that takes the lives of many transgender people of color across the country. Secretary Carson’s actions are contrary to the mission of his Department and yet another example of tragic cruelty of this...

Lena Waithe got the best pep talk ever from Halle Berry.Waithe was a substitute host on Jimmy Kimmel Live on Thursday and received a visit from Berry during her monologue.The Chicago native told Kimmel’s sidekick Guillermo she needed some inspiration so he suggested the “Berry button,” a big red button randomly placed on a wall. When the button was pressed, Berry ran out. "Baby, what can I do for you?" the John Wick 3 star asked. Waithe wanted some of the sauce from Berry’s 2002 Oscars acceptance speech."I need some inspiration. Like that Oscars speech you gave, that got me hyped," she replied. "I need you to give me some of that Halle Berry juice."Berry went into motivational speaker mode."Lena, you know I know you, right? We've worked together. So I know that you are a force of nature. You are a beautiful African American queen," she said. "...Lena, tonight you are a writer, an actor, a producer and tonight you are a late-night comedian. You about to slay this show!"She also commented on Waithe’s drip."And you are already winning, girl, because you are dressed way better than Jimmy ever was,” Berry said. “Now, you good or do you need something else?" Waithe confirmed she was good but Berry wasn’t finished."No, I think you need something else," she quipped.Berry looked Waithe in her eyes and gave a her a big kiss on the lips.So... fun show tonight! 😘❤️ @LenaWaithe @HalleBerry #Kimmel pic.twitter.com/f8KzlYtFkG— Jimmy Kimmel Live (@JimmyKimmelLive) May 23, 2019Waithe was understandably shook .The The Chi creator later asked Guillermo to take the “Berry button” off the wall and “put that s**t in my house.”Later on, Waithe, who was allowed to select her guests, interviewed rapper Chika. Chika became famous after she got the streets talking after she posted a clip of her freestyling about Kanye West.A letter to Kanye Omari West. Over his own beat. 🤮 pic.twitter.com/5xdxKJ7d4l— CHIKA (@oranicuhh) April 26, 2018Her fury-fueled bars about Yeezy have taken her far and led to her Calvin Klein campaign. Chika admits her rise has been “crazy.”“I never really expected that a video I made out of complete anger and disgust would get me here,” she said. “It’s been moving fast ever since it begun and it’s been a hell of a journey.”The Alabama native also introduced her new record, “Rachey v. Alabama,” a track inspired by one of her friends and the fight for reproductive rights. Chika later performed the track on the show."I wrote a song and its entitled 'Rachey v. Alabama'... we all know what's going on in Alabama right now and I'm from Alabama, so I felt like with this opportunity and the way that it lined up it would make so much sense for me to come one here and speak for people who otherwise feel voiceless," Chika said."Rachey is the last name of one of my friends, who has such a powerful story when it comes to what's going on in Alabama, I felt like this would be a proper tribute to her," she continued. "And also a proper tribute to all women in Alabama, all people in Alabama with wombs who are able to carry children and I felt like this is my time to speak for us."Watch Chika’s performance below:...

Cosmetics giant, Mana Products Inc., is going out of its way to stop a small, Black-owned business from trademarking its name due to a few similarities. In a lengthy blog post published on Mic on Tuesday, BLK + GRN Founder Dr. Kristian Henderson wrote that Mana is challenging her company's attempts to trademark her company's name.Mana Products Inc. is opposing the trademark because they own a company called Black Opal, which recently rebranded itself as BLK/OPL. If you're confused as to why Mana would stop the trademark of a company with a different name, you would be in the same boat as Henderson."It feels as if Black Opal is claiming to own the stylized “BLK” version of Black, despite being very far from being a Black company," she wrote. View this post on Instagram As more and more people are making an effort to Buy Black, more and more brands are wearing Blackface. — What happens when large corporations that are not Black-owned appear to be Black owned and block Black-owned brands from thriving? — Mana Products Inc, founded by Nikos P. Mouyiaris, is currently opposing the trademark for @blkandgrn. — Mana owns Black Opal, which was recently rebranded as BLK/OPL, and they are asserting that the trademark BLK + GRN filed would cause confusion, so they are opposing BLK + GRN’s trademark application. Click the link in the bio for the full story. #blackopalwhitefaceA post shared by Dr. Kristian H (@drkristianh) on May 21, 2019 at 6:13pm PDTAccording to her story, Mana has said in legal filings that "both brands use block letters, both spell Black with the shorthand BLK, and both brands use a symbol followed by three other letters."However, the two businesses are involved in different industries. Black Opal is a cosmetics company tailored toward Black women. Meanwhile, BLK + GRN is an all-natural Black artisan marketplace for clean, green beauty and wellness products. Despite their differences, Mana has forced Henderson and BLK + GRN to go through a lengthy and costly legal process to defend their application.  View this post on Instagram Spreading the word: My dear friend @drkristianh founder and owner of @blkandgrn (and @mompreneurandme sponsor) speaks on legally battling a black woman cosmetics company that isn’t black owned. Head over to her page to learn more.A post shared by Christine Michel Carter (@cmichelcarter) on May 22, 2019 at 10:09am PDTDespite being owned non-Black people, Black Opal's Instagram page is filled exclusively with Black women. In response, Henderson titled her most recent article, "When a White Company Wears Blackface." View this post on Instagram The BLK/OPL beauties behind our True Color Shade lineup 😍 📸 @cperlaphotography 💄👄@merrellhollis @tish_ferguson@_leewill and @mbm_artistry 💆🏾‍♀️ @hairbyromorgan and @styledbyshanicef . . . . #melaningoddess #melaninbeautiesunite #melaninbeauty #melaninpopping #melaninrich #melaninpower #melanina #melaninmakeup #blackopalbeauty #blackopal #makeupforblackgirls #makeupforwoc #makeupforwomenofcolor #makeuptools #makeuptrends #makeuptrend #makeuptoday #foundations #blackmakeup #blackmakeupbrands #blackownedbusinesses #melaninking #melaninqueens #makeuptutorialsx0xA post shared by BLACK OPAL (@blackopalbeauty) on May 19, 2019 at 10:02am PDTMana made $284.92 million last year and has a team of lawyers ready to fight their battles, but Henderson said the "legal fees could strangle a small start-up company and force us to close our doors.""BLK + GRN was founded with the purpose of connecting Black women with all-natural products without compromising their values, their health, or their standards," Henderson wrote. She criticized Mana for using Black women to sell their products while stifling a small Black business for nonsensical reasons.On Instagram, Black women who had been fans of Black Opal's products criticized the company for tricking them into thinking they were run by Black women. Instagram users were also upset that the company was trying to squash small businesses that were actually run by Black people. "As more and more people are making an effort to Buy Black, more and more brands are wearing Blackface," wrote @fiyawata. View this post on Instagram y’all. I feel some type of way. @blackopalbeauty *was* one of my FAVORITE brands for foundation that matches my Black perfectly. And you know what - it’s not that I’m just finding out they’re not Black owned that has me feeling a way, it’s that they are trying to block the business of ACTUAL, REAL LIFE BLACK FOLK. I mean, “business is business,” so they say. But nah. Just ringing the alarm like how I do. Do with this what you will. #ThisAintProfessional 😒 cc: @shoppeblack #Repost @drkristianh · · · As more and more people are making an effort to Buy Black, more and more brands are wearing Blackface. — What happens when large corporations that are not Black-owned appear to be Black owned and block Black-owned brands from thriving? — Mana Products Inc, founded by Nikos P. Mouyiaris, is currently opposing the trademark for @blkandgrn. — Mana owns Black Opal, which was recently rebranded as BLK/OPL, and they are asserting that the trademark BLK + GRN filed would cause confusion, so they are opposing BLK + GRN’s trademark application. Click the link in the bio for the full story. #blackopalwhitefaceA post shared by YABA (@fiyawata) on May 22, 2019 at 8:34am PDT"The existence of an actual Black-owned, Black-run, and Black-affirming company that supports over 65 Black women-owned brands is at stake," she said."We believe firmly in the power of supporting small Black-owned brands, and we exist as the antithesis of the actions of Black Opal, and others like...

On Monday, Frank Baez graduated with a degree in nursing from the same university where he once served as a janitor.Baez began working at NYU’s Langone Tisch Hospital when he was 17 years old. He cleaned patient rooms, bathrooms, and hallways.“I could barely speak English at the time when I started working at NYU,” said Baez. He noted, “Now I reflect on it and I feel very proud of how much I accomplished.” Baez initially applied for a job in housekeeping because he wanted to provide for his family. He had moved to the United States from the Dominican Republic at the age of 15. Frank Baez was a teenager when he started working as a janitor at New York University's Langone’s Tisch Hospital, cleaning patient rooms, bathrooms and hallways.On Monday, he graduated with a nursing degree from the same institution. #graduation #nurse #janitor pic.twitter.com/2zpaO7SekF— missmaybell (@missmaybell) May 22, 2019Eventually, he became a patient transporter, moving patients to tests and other procedures at the hospital. He enjoyed the fast-paced environment and working with people.  Baez is the first in his family to graduate college. He received his Bachelor’s degree in Spanish Literature and Biological Sciences from Hunter’s College. “I was hoping that I would be able to care for patients in Spanish. I wanted to work with under served populations.” As an immigrant, Baez understood the importance of being able to care for people in their own language.He knew he wanted to return to NYU where his career in care taking career began. After obtaining his Bachelor’s degree, Baez began work as a unit clerk at NYU Langone Orthopedic Hospital where he got the opportunity to work closely with nurses. He applied to the NYU Rory Meyer’s College of Nursing where he participated in an accelerated program that allowed for him to complete his nursing degree in 15 months.Now that he has graduated, Baez is preparing for his licensing boards and aspires to get a job as a nurse at NYU. “If you work hard, you have discipline, and you want something you should always go for it. Never give up on your...

The ACLU has challenged the Arizona Department of Corrections' decision to ban prisoners from accessing a book that explores how racial disparities plague the U.S. criminal justice system.In a letter released on their website, ACLU lawyer Emerson Sykes questioned the decision to ban the book. Sykes wrote, "The ADC cannot show that banning Chokehold is reasonably related to legitimate penological interests and should immediately correct its decision and restore access to Paul Butler's important book.""Chokehold explores how racial disparities plague the U.S. criminal justice system and how to address those deep inequalities and injustices. Paul Butler, a former federal prosecutor, draws on the chokehold as a metaphor to dissect how various structures exert power over Black men in particular," the ACLU wrote.Arizona prisons banned a book about how the criminal justice system treats Black men. It's called "Chokehold." The ACLU asked them to reverse the ban, saying blocking information about the "forces that shape prisoners' own lives" is dehumanizing and unconstitutional. pic.twitter.com/kXnwFK6eqc— AJ+ (@ajplus) May 21, 2019In March, the Arizona Department of Corrections deemed the book “unauthorized content” and banned inmates from reading it. Prison departments in states across the country routinely ban books they decide are controversial, prompting ACLU threats or lawsuits.The ACLU recently threatened both North Carolina and New Jersey for banning prisoners from access to The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander. The ACLU was successful, forcing both states to rescind those bans. "Nothing in the book threatens to disrupt the facility's ability to maintain security and order," the ACLU added."ADC's position regarding Chokehold unsoundly asserts that educating incarcerated individuals on the penal system and their legal rights threatens the security of the prison operations."Butler is now a criminal law professor at Georgetown University but decided to write the book after his own experience fighting unfair charges in the justice system.In interviews with The New York Times and The Associated Press, Butler said the decision to ban his book was indicative of the very ideas the book discusses. “I found the ban somewhat ironic because it’s kind of supporting the thesis,” he said. “The thesis in ‘Chokehold,’ that black men are targeted by police and prosecutors, that’s not going to be breaking news to any inmate who’s in prison in Arizona.”Like most states, Black people in Arizona make up a higher percentage of the prison population than they do of the state population. About 5 percent of Arizona residents are Black, while 14.5 percent of the prison population is Black.“In order for them to ban a book, they have to show the restriction is related to a legitimate prison interest. There’s no interest to keep inmates from learning about the criminal justice system and policing,” Sykes told Newsweek.Spokesman for the Arizona Department of Corrections Andrew Wilder told The New York Times they were reviewing the letter and would respond but declined to make any further statements. “One in 19 black men are in prison in Arizona right now. Rather than acknowledge it’s a good thing that inmates want to read about and debate important public policy, Arizona pushes back against rehabilitation, against literacy, against the Constitution,” Butler told Newsweek.The Arizona Department of Corrections has already been under fire for banning four issues of a magazine that covered sexual assault committed by prison...

McDonald's has been hit with more than two dozen sexual harassment lawsuits.Twenty-five lawsuits were filed by workers across the country who accuse the company and its franchisees of ignoring the complaints of women as young as 16 years old, reports The New York Times. Twenty of the filings were sent to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), three were submitted as civil rights lawsuits and the other two came from previously filed complaints. The cases were announced two days before McDonald's annual shareholder meeting. The American Civil Liberties Union, Fight For $15  and the Time's Up Legal Defense Fund are supporting the plaintiffs.We were in front of @McDonalds HQ today alongside workers and our partners to hold the company accountable for its pervasive culture of sexual harassment. pic.twitter.com/2hciozOvlC— ACLU (@ACLU) May 21, 2019These 25 lawsuits are only a fraction of the complaints labor activists have received. According to The New York Times, The Times Up Legal Fund has received nearly 5,000 requests for assistance since it was launched. Moving forward, a hotline will be created for any other McDonald's worker who wants to report harassment.The accusations include lewd comments, groping and attempted rape. Workers who report the abuse face retaliation from management and other coworkers. Brittany Hoyos, 19, experienced unwanted advances from her manager. When her parents found out and reported the behavior, she was demoted from her position as a crew trainer. Her mother and coworker, Maribel, was also targeted. Both of them no longer work for the company. Brittany blamed herself for their misfortune.“I was embarrassed,” she said in court documents. “I felt like I was at fault or that I had done something wrong.”Jamelia Fairley was also punished for telling on coworkers who groped her and made sexual comments about her daughter. Her hours were cut and she was denied a transfer to another store. She got involved in the sexual harassment fight to set an example for her little girl.“I was thinking about my daughter,” she said. “What if she has to work for McDonald’s one day and something like this happens to her? What if no one stands up for her?”According to Tanya Harrell, who was the victim of an attempted rape, this is common.“For three years, we’ve been speaking out, filing charges and even going on strike to get McDonald’s to confront its sexual harassment problem,” Harrell told USA Today. “But these new charges show that nothing has changed. We cannot wait any longer for action. McDonald’s, it’s time to sit down with the workers who help make your $6 billion in profits possible so, together, we can stamp out harassment once and for all.”McDonald’s hasn’t addressed the lawsuits directly. Instead, the fast-food giant sent out copies of a letter written to Top Chef host and executive producer Padma Lakshmi, according to CBS News."We have enhanced our policy so that it more clearly informs employees of their rights, more clearly defines sexual harassment, discrimination and retaliation, and provide examples of what unacceptable behavior looks like," it read. "It also underscores how employees can report a complaint if they do not feel comfortable addressing it with a...