Black Money: Young Black Entrepreneurs Win Big Prize

Awarded 25K Grant in National Business Plan Competition

After competing against hundreds of minority owned businesses across the country, dangerousNEGRO Black Empowerment Apparel (dN|Be Apparel) was recently awarded $25,000 at the culmination of MillerCoors’ Urban Entrepreneur Series (MUES). Owners Tre Baker, Justin Giboney, Sebastine Ujereh, and Demetrius Walker were on hand to accept the prize at Chicago’s Blackstone Hotel. Known for being an edgy, yet socially conscious streetwear line, dN|Be Apparel has proven that it has a profitable business concept, which will undoubtedly expand as the company continues to accept new capital from enthusiastic investors this summer.

Hatched from President Woodrow Wilson’s 1919 characterization of A. Phillip Randolph as “America’s most dangerous Negro,” the company is best known for promoting positive messages and social awareness through its graphic tee shirts and school lectures. With tees carrying clever, universal messages like “Smart is the New Gangsta,” dN|Be Apparel is winning over those concerned with the deterioration of social values in their community. Supporters sharing dangerousNEGRO’s rejection of the victim mentality have not only purchased shirts in mass quantities, but have also participated in discussions with company lecturers Justin Giboney and Demetrius Walker across college campuses.

Click to read more.

Are you Kidding?

Phi Beta Sigma is allegedly inducting Bill Clinton and Al Sharpton into their frats.  Isn’t Bill already in one of those skull and crossbones frats at Yale, along with George W. Bush?

Great Sites for African American Bloggers

 

Your Black World

Your Black Money

Your Black Woman

Your Black News

Your Black Politics

Your Black Health

AOL Black Voices

The Grio

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Time to Hold Fraternities and Sororities Accountable

by Lester Spence

Since Alpha Phi Alpha was founded in 1906 the nine major black fraternities (Alpha Phi Alpha, Kappa Alpha Psi, Phi Beta Sigma, Iota Phi Theta, Omega Psi Phi) and sororities (Alpha Kappa Alpha, Delta Sigma Theta. Zeta Phi Beta, Sigma Gamma Rho) have been trailblazers, at the forefront of the fight against racism and at the forefront of the fight for African American empowerment. But over 100 years after their founding, are these organizations still doing the work that they set out to do?

To the extent that individuals have criticized these organizations from without they’ve attacked their membership practices–more specifically the practice of hazing. Almost all of the “Divine Nine” have had to deal with not only hazing allegations, but hazing related deaths over the past few decades.

But more recently members have severely criticized their organizations for their financial practices.

Most recently a case filed by a member is wending its way through the Nebraska courts alleging that the executive board of Alpha Kappa Alpha gave its International President an illegal stipend in the amount of $250,000, in violation of its Constitution and Bylaws, and without consulting the membership.

The case has not been decided, and the sorority is countersuing the plaintiff. However, this is not the first time in recent years that allegations of financial impropriety have been made against one of the “Divine Nine”.

Click to read.

Dr. Jeremiah Wright: The Man Behind the Sound bites

Rather than letting Fox News sound bites define Jeremiah Wright for you, take a look at his bio.

Life, Love and Legacy

Rev. Dr. Jeremiah A. Wright, Jr.

The Rev. Dr. Jeremiah A. Wright, Jr. is a man of faith, a homiletic genius, a theological scholar and a pastor’s pastor. He is a family man who enjoys spending quality time with his wife, children, grandchildren, extended family and friends.

Steeped in Family Tradition and Educational Achievements

Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Dr. Wright is a son of the parsonage and hails from a family steeped in educational achievements. A third generation family member to matriculate at Virginia Union University, Dr. Wright followed in the footsteps of his maternal grandfather, Dr. Hamilton Martin Henderson who graduated from Virginia Union with a Bachelor of Arts degree in the late 1800s and finished seminary at Virginia Union in 1902. His father, Dr. Jeremiah A. Wright, Sr., also graduated from Virginia Union with two undergraduate degrees and from the seminary with a Master of Divinity degree in 1938. The senior Wright also received a Master of Sacred Theology degree (S.T.M.) from the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia.

Dr. Wright’s mother, Dr. Mary Henderson Wright, also graduated from Virginia Union and earned her first master’s degree before age 19 from the University of Chicago. She also earned a second master’s degree and her doctorate in education from the University of Pennsylvania.

Foundational Strengths

With four earned degrees, a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts in English from Howard University, a Master of Divinity from the University of Chicago Divinity School and a Doctor of Ministry from the United Theological Seminary, Dr. Jeremiah A. Wright, Jr. grew up in a home where reading books was a daily way of life. Wright read a wide range of sources from the Greek philosophers and Shakespeare to African American authors such as Carter G. Woodson (the Father of African American History) to Sterling Brown (one of the Harlem Renaissance artists), as well as one of Dr. Wright’s college professors.

Click to read more about Jeremiah Wright

Ryan Mack: The Alpha Man with Alpha Male Money

Black finance expert Ryan Mack brings us advice from a place of real heart to help hard-working Americans deal with the mortgage mess. With his warm brand of personal finance advice, Mack’s strongest words to the community are: "If you are having problems paying your mortgage DO NOT WALK AWAY FROM YOUR HOME!" In part one of our two-part interview, learn more about how we got into this housing crisis, how it has affected the general economy and what you should do now to protect your home.
How did you become a finance expert? What inspired you to pursue this goal?
When I was on Wall Street making great money I felt empty, because I was not an effective contributor to my community. I knew that finance was my passion, but I also knew that sitting in a cubicle making money only for the sake of self-empowerment was not my purpose.
Like too many families in America, many people in my family were not financially literate. My passion was to change that. In addition, I was always getting asked personal finance questions from peers who knew I was a stock trader. But trading is different from personal finance. To address these questions, I began to study personal finance and started a Yahoo group called MakingMoneyWork, which provided tips and strategies to over 200 members through weekly newsletters.

Click to read more on the African American Money blog.

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Woman Gets Beaten in a Beauty Salon!

 

From Lady Drama at www.YourBlackGossip.com. 

Click here to watch a woman get beat down something terrible in a beauty salon!  This video is all over the net and after seeing it, all you’ll be able to say is “hayell nawwwwww!”

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Bow Wow Tweets on his chicks

This is what happens when Twitter gets into the hands of the wrong celebs! Bow Wow decided to comment on what it feels like when two women he’s had sex with become good friends! Read below for his insight:
Fellas, don’t you feel like a G when ya ex and another girl u banged or f*cked around with r now friends? boosts my ego up! like daaaayum ima pimp
wat makes it funny i dont think she knows! ha! im laughn lol….
I mean…he could be talking about someone else but…Timing is everything!
Update from Bow Wow:
deez blogs r funny. y err time i say my ex people think ciara? yall kno how many girlfriends ive had. maybe cuz dats da only 1 yall kno bout. Yall gotta stop assuming. those r assumptions. and clearly im not talkn bout dem. they r 2 great people. but im not referring to dem

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Black Campus News: White HBCU Queen Takes Haters in Stride

Kentucky State University is an HBCU which lies next to my heart. My sister, who just finished medical school, spent her undergraduate career there, so I was kept in the loop when the world seemed to flip on its head regarding who the students chose to hold the title of Miss Kentucky State University. As you can see, she’s not exactly what one would expect an HBCU Homecoming Queen to look like, but Elisabeth Martin’s skin color likely reflects one of the many faces that define Historically Black colleges in the new millennium. So, while I was personally dismayed that Kentucky State University (along with many HBCUs around the nation) seems to be forgetting about the importance of having African American faculty, the truth is that we are in an era in which one needs to determine what it means to be an HBCU.

Personally, I love the fact that the students at Kentucky State chose Elisabeth Martin as their homecoming queen. Martin, a 21-year old International Studies major, won the crown by a landslide, dominating the competition. It has been her race, however, that has sent shock waves through the Kentucky State University community. But Martin takes the heat in stride and carries herself with a grace and class that should make the campus proud. The fact that the students love her so much is verified by her love for the campus and commitment to school spirit. She has also handled the national media attention like a true queen should.

AOL Black Voices had the chance to catch up with Elisabeth Martin:

Click to read.

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Lady Drama: Has Kelis Lost her Damn Mind?

In the latest episode of “YourBlackGossip with Lady Drama”, Lady Drama breaks down Bobby Brown’s latest stunt, why in the world Beyonce would want to be Jay Z and why Kelis has just lost her damn mind.

Click here to watch!

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Michael Eric Dyson v. Barack Obama

Is Michael Eric Dyson being critical Obama, loving him, hating him, or holding him accountable?  Dyson has joined a chorus of individuals in the black community asking for the President to show some love to his community.  Click the image to watch his interview!

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Lady Drama: WTF? Canadian Girl is an AMAZING Beat Boxer

You think the Human Beat Box was the best ever?  Think again.  Check out this SICK girl from Canada throwing down in ways that have never been seen on the internet.

click the image to watch the video:

 

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Hampton University Shooting Incident

A former Hampton University student armed with three guns followed a pizza delivery man into the student’s former dorm early Sunday, shot the delivery man and a dorm monitor, then turned the gun on himself, university officials said. All three survived.

No current students were injured and both victims and the alleged shooter were expected to recover. Officials could offer no motive for the shooting.

Hampton President William R. Harvey, who said he arrived within 15 minutes of the shooting, told a news conference the campus shooting could have been much worse.

"I think we are very, very fortunate. This could have been another — you fill in the blank," Harvey said.

The 18-year-old former student, who is from New York City, apparently parked his car off campus to avoid a vehicle checkpoint at Hampton’s main gate, then followed the pizza delivery man on foot and inside a freshman dormitory, Harkness Hall. Once inside, he shot the pizza man and entered the monitor’s office and fired three shots at him, then shot himself, Hampton University Police Chief Leroy Crosby said.

Crosby said he didn’t know what prompted the shooting.

The monitor, who suffered two gunshot wounds in his arms and a third in the leg, has been released from the hospital, Harvey said.

 

Click to read.

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Black News: White Rapper Asher Roth Calls Black Women “Nappy Headed Hoes”

White rapper Asher Roth chose to put his foot in his mouth on Twitter:

“At rutgers stirring up a suckus,” Roth tweeted. Okay, not bad.

Then: “At rutgers stirring up a ruckus.” Oh no, is he tweet-rapping?

“Been a day of rest and relaxation, sorry twitter – hanging out with nappy headed hoes.” Boom.

Click to read.

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Russell Simmons Should Stop Selling the Rush Card

Dear Mr. Simmons:
My name is Ryan Mack and I have followed your career for most of my life. I have been a long-time admirer of your work, a tremendous fan, and believe that millions are inspired by the paths that you have created in the field of Hip-Hop. More importantly, as an advocate for financial literacy myself, I believe that the work that you have been doing through the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network as it relates to financial literacy has been second to none. However, I must admit to being somewhat disappointed with your recent pre-paid debit card venture – the "Rushcard."

The pre-paid debit card industry has always been an industry that is built upon a lack of knowledge within the community. It is an industry based upon the legal phrase which demonstrates that "false imprisonment is an intentional tort." In other words, if I put someone in a room and do not lock the door but tell them that the door is locked, they will remain in the room because they believe the door is locked. As a result of my action, I have committed a punishable crime. I view pre-paid debit cards in the same light. Those who know the strategies to empower the community have a moral obligation to those, who may not be as knowledgeable, to fully inform them. There are other more efficient means to empower those in our communities than pre-paid debit cards and other financially destructive establishments such as check cashing facilities. The typical bank offers free debit cards that if used properly do not have any fees affiliated with them and can be used for the same purpose as the pre-paid debit cards.

If we compare the fees affiliated with the Rushcard compared to the typical bank offered debit card, we can clearly see the advantage of the cards offered by the banking institutions.

Rushcard vs. Typical Bank Card
Activation Fee: Rushcard = $19.95 Typical Bank Card = Free
Convenience Fee: Rushcard = $1.00 Typical Bank Card = Free
ATM Cash Withdrawal: Rushcard = $1.95 Typical Bank Card = Free (At Branch)
ATM Balance Inquiry: Rushcard = $.50 Typical Bank Card = Free
Bill Payment: Rushcard = $1.00 Typical Bank Card = Free
Inactivity: Rushcard = $2.95 Typical Bank Card = Free
Refund of Rushcard/Bank Card via Check: Rushcard = $5.00 Typical Bank Card = Free

Click to read.

Technorati Tags: russell simmons,rushcard,rush card,black money,african american money,black finances,black wealth,black enterprise report,african american wealth,black enterprise

BET’s Gospel Show to Get Cancelled

BET’s 106 and Gospel has been officially canceled.  But please tell me this:  Why in the “hayell” would you air a gospel show at 12 noon on Sundays?  Aren’t people in church at that time?

I swear…..some people can’t get a damn clue without the intervention of the Lord.

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No More Chrianna: Chris Has Moved On

Chris Brown is moving on.

The R&B singer has started dating again since his troubled relationship with pop chanteuseRihanna ended last month, and it appears he has gotten back together with another ex-girlfriend.

Brown’s new/old lady is University of Mary Washington student Erica Jackson. “[Chris and Erica] met inVirginia, where he’s from,” a source close to the singer says. “They dated back in the day and reconnected a few weeks ago when Chris was in town. They’ve been spending a lot of time together, but things only really heated up over the last two weeks.”

And while Jackson is “no Rihanna,” the general consensus among his friends and family is that the new girl is going to be good for him in the long run. “[Erica] has a good head on her shoulders; she’s solid,” says our insider. Chris and his new gal pal were spotted leaving a Sunset Blvd. tattoo parlor on Saturday afternoon.

 

Click to read.

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Your Blast from the Past: Johnny Cochran’s Famous Closing Argument

 

In case you didn’t get a chance to see the great Johnny Cochran in action, you really missed something.  Johnny is no longer with us, but we are YourBlackWorld wanted to pay tribute to one of the most respected Black attorneys of all time.  Click the image below in order to see Johnny Cochran’s closing argument during the OJ Simpson Trial!

 

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The Top 10 Black Scholars in America: My Ranking

Dr Boyce Watkins

www.BoyceWatkins.com

I wake up with strange thoughts on my brain.  This morning, I woke up thinking about which Black scholars I feel have given the most to the Black community.  My respect and appreciation for all Black scholars (even those who do not have PhDs) is without limit.  But there are some that I feel have gone out of their way to be progressive enough to think outside the box and to have a true and real impact on the Black community.

I do not believe that scholarly contributions to the Black community are defined by writing a bunch of research papers that no one ever reads (although I’ve done plenty of that in my own career as part of my job description).  I don’t think your contribution is captured by whether or not you have a chair at Harvard University (interacting with 4 or 5 privileged Black students a year) – although it’s okay to have a chaired position at Harvard.  Much of the elitism of academia has always been a turnoff to me, since I believe the proof is in the potato salad.  If your work is affecting real Black people and changing real Black lives, then you have my respect.  If you are sitting in the ivory tower, claiming the masters house and hiding behind artificially constructed, racially-biased historical privilege which allows you to presume that you are better than everyone else, then you will have to be on someone else’s list.  My belief is that a scholar should have SCHOLARLY IMPACT – which can be measured by the breadth and depth of impact your work has had on your target audience, as well as the size and scope of that audience.  A journal with 50 readers per year does not possess sufficient breadth, depth or quality of impact to merit a meaningful career, in my opinion.  Sure, it’s fun to publish in those journals, but after that, you may want to get out here and make a difference in that scary place called “the real world”.

Of course my opinion is not the only one out there.  But I must confess that I was shocked at how many of our intellectual leaders aren’t leading anyone: many of us are quick to follow and promote the questionable norms created by our academic predecessors.  We in academia are not much different from politicians who forget to serve their constituents, or pastors who, in their own quest for personal power, neglect to serve their Lord.  Such small thinking is incredibly dangerous in Black America, since we really need our scholars to solve vital problems in our communities.  We must accompany our capacity with sufficient courage to speak openly and honestly about the issues that affect those we love.  In physics, force equals mass times acceleration, which means that we must connect our scholarly mass with social acceleration to create the necessary force to solve real and meaningful problems.

My dissertation chair (Rene Stulz at Ohio State University), is one of the leading 3 non-Black Financial scholars in the world (as measured by the number of publications in our so-called premier academic journals).  He thought I was insane for choosing the career path that I picked, especially since he seemed to believe that he’d laid out the golden path for me as a Financial scholar (you know, all that Ivy League professor, top journal stuff that makes a small group of people think you’re special).  But what I had to explain to Rene was that God has given me a different path: one in which I had to disengage from the pettiness of academia and pursue a more powerful purpose.  The challenges of Black America call for active, interdisciplinary thought that is not afraid to challenge ideas created on an undeniably skewed racial foundation….we can’t afford be like everybody else – the waste is just too great.  Rene still looks at me like I’m crazy when we see one another, but I respect his choices and I think he respects mine. 

Now, onto the list of my favorite Black scholars – the list is in no particular order and if a certain scholar is not in the top 10, that doesn’t mean I don’t respect that individual.  But there are some prominent names missing from the list, and I’ll let you guess why they aren’t there:

 Click to read.

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Lady Drama: WTF is Wrong with Solange?

In the lastest episode of Your Black Gossip with Lady Drama, America’s #1 Gossip Diva beats up on Solange Knowles, gives props to T-Boz, wonders why Chris Brown pleaded not guilty and body slams King Magazine.  Click the image below to watch the show!

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YourBlackWorld: Charles Rangel To Meet Tax Man

 

The Democratic congressman who writes the tax code will be meeting the tax collector. Republicans couldn’t be happier.

Rep. Charles Rangel of New York, the gravelly voiced chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, discovered that he owes back taxes on rental income from his Dominican Republic beach villa.

Republicans, in the minority in both the House and Senate, desperately needed a new Democratic scandal. Before Rangel’s ethical troubles became known — and there has been no finding of wrongdoing — the GOP was trailing 7-2 in the most serious corruption tally: lawmakers indicted or convicted since 2000.

For more details, you can Google congressional Republicans Ted Stevens, Rick Renzi, Larry Craig, Bob Ney, Randy “Duke” Cunningham, Tom DeLay and William Janklow. To make the Googling bipartisan, also see Democrats William Jefferson and James Traficant.

So far, Rangel has given Republicans these political gifts:

_An estimated tax bill of $5,000 from undeclared rental income at the Punta Cana resort in the Dominican Republic.

 

Click to read more

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YourBlackWorld: Obama Campaign Discusses Black Financial Security

 

 

 

Sen. Barack Obama’s economic plan would help African-American families regain some of the losses they’ve experienced during the Bush years, campaign officials said this week.
Key among Obama’s plan, according to campaign officials, are plans to increase the threshold for the Earned Income Tax Credit, raise the minimum wage and end Bush’s tax cuts for corporations that send jobs overseas.
The economic woes that have gripped the nation run even deeper in the African-American community.
“We’re in the bottom of the boat, when the water comes in the bottom of the boat, we’re the first ones to notice, but it’s the whole ship that is sinking,” said William Spriggs, chair of the economics department at Howard University. “We cannot afford as a nation for this ship to take on any more water.”

 

According to unemployment numbers released last week, the national unemployment rate is 6.1 percent — its highest level since 2003.
For Blacks, the statistics were even more grim with 10.6 percent of African Americans unemployed.
That figure is not the highest African Americans have seen under President Bush. During his administration, Black unemployment has gone as high as 11.5 percent.
Release of the figures prompted Obama’s presidential challenger Sen. John McCain, whose economic policies largely mirror Bush’s, to issue a statement pledging that he would create jobs if elected.
“Americans are hurting and we must act to create jobs,” McCain said. “As president, I will enact jobs for America’s economic plan that creates jobs, helps small businesses, expands opportunities and opens markets to American goods.”

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YourBlackWorld: CLarence Thomas: Constitution Forbids Racial Preference

 

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas said Tuesday that African-Americans are better served by colorblind programs than affirmative action.

Thomas, addressing leaders of historically black colleges, said affirmative action “has become this mantra and there almost has become this secular religiosity about it. I think it almost trumps thinking.”

 

A longtime opponent of race-based preferences in hiring and school admissions, Thomas said, “Just from a constitutional standpoint, I think we’re going to run into problems if we say the Constitution says we can consider race sometimes.”

Thomas, 60, has voted on the court to outlaw the use of race in college admissions and in determining which public schools students will attend. He wrote with evident resentment in his autobiography “My Grandfather’s Son” that he felt he was allowed to attend Yale Law School in the 1970s because of his race and took a tough course load to prove he was as able as his white classmates.

 

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YourBlackWorld: Condoleeza Rice Says That US Needs More Black Diplomats

 

 

The State Department needs more black diplomats to reflect the ethnic makeup of the U.S., Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Monday.

“I want to see a Foreign Service that looks as if black Americans are part of this great country,” Rice told a gathering of leaders of historically black colleges.

“I have lamented that I can go into a meeting at the Department of State – as a matter of fact, I can go into a whole day of meetings at the Department of State – and rarely see somebody who looks like me,” she said.

Rice is the first black woman to serve as U.S. secretary of state, and today she is the highest-ranking woman and African-American in the Bush administration.

A more diverse corps of diplomats is essential “if America is going to stand for the belief that multi-ethnic democracies can work … .”

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YourBlackWorld: Obama’s Campaign Hits Back

 

 

Sen. Barack Obama’s presidential campaign, responding to gains by the McCain-Palin ticket, fought back Friday with hard-hitting ads, a refocus on the economy and a declaration that “today is the first day of the rest of the campaign.”
Obama held a town-hall meeting here Friday on tax relief for the middle class to outline what the campaign called “the sharp differences between his plan to cut taxes for 95 percent of hardworking Americans and John McCain’s plan to give tax breaks to corporations.”
Faulting the Bush administration for “irresponsible fiscal policies” that have resulted in unemployment at its highest rate in five years and gas prices that are “killing family budgets,” Obama said, “We can’t afford four more years of what George Bush and John McCain consider progress.”
Criticizing Republicans for their “trickle-down” approach to the economy, Obama asked, “How much has trickled down so far?”

Click to read more

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