Since the spread of COVID-19, or the novel coronavirus, pandemic hit the country, many people have been forced to adjust to a new reality with the new stay-at-home order restrictions across numerous states and the closure of “non-essential” brick-and-mortar business closures. The severe economic loss has deeply impacted many across the nation causing millions of Americans to suffer from mental health issues. These two beauty entrepreneurs are looking to give back to women by reminding them to put their mental health first.
DRK Beauty was founded by Wilma Mae Basta and Danielle Jackson. The company specializes in digital content and community platform with the mission to support, celebrate, and empower women of color. In light of the novel coronavirus pandemic, the founders launched the DPK Beauty Healing initiative dedicated to providing 10,000 hours of free therapy to women of color across the country who have been severely impacted by COVID-19.
“The disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on black and brown communities is creating a mental health disaster that will carry on for generations to come,” said Wilma Mae Basta, founder & CEO, DRK Beauty, in a press statement. “Current mental health support for women of color is frankly not enough. So we decided to launch this initiative which is already providing much-needed help in our community.”
The Biden campaign used a series of slides to highlight a few promises to the African American community.
According to the post, “The Biden Plan for Black America” will close the wealth and income gap by investing in African American workers, businesses, and communities. The plan also states that a Biden administration would make health equity a reality and promises to expand access to high-quality education and tackle racial inequity.
The plan will deal with the prison industrial complex claiming it will strengthen America’s commitment to justice by reducing the number of people incarcerated and ending incarceration for drug use alone.
DETROIT, MICHIGAN – MARCH 09: Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden tries to calm his supporters as demonstrators disrupt his rally at Renaissance High School. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
The final points on the post showed a commitment to ensuring that people’s right to vote is protected and included a comprehensive clean energy future agenda.
Comments under the post are both supportive and suspicious.
Many of the comments restate Biden’s unfortunate comment onThe Breakfast Club. During his interview withCharlamagne tha God, he suggested that undecided voters “ain’t Black,” if they are considering voting forDonald Trump.
The Trump campaign seized on the remark calling it “racist,” and selling t-shirts with “You Ain’t Black,” across the front.
For their part, the Biden campaign is focusing on the fact that even before The Breakfast Club interview, they had a plan for Black America and are using this opportunity for people to become familiar with it.
Rappers likeIce CubeandDiddycontinue to suggest “holding the Black vote hostage,” until both candidates develop a comprehensive plan for Black America.
Hold the Black vote hostage until one of’em comes with A Black Agenda that we’re satisfied with. It’s not our job to fix the country’s mess until we fix our mess…#fuckyoupaymehttps://t.co/KhT07pKIUn
Many users are replying to their tweets with a link to the plan.
If you don’t get that raggedy Lift Every Voice Nonsense out of here. That’s something that would have fooled us 10 years ago with @BarackObama but we recognize the con now.
Other Twitteruserssay that they are “staying home is a vote for Trump,” causing a back and forth between different schools of thought on voting one’s best interest.
The Democratic Party seems to think some black voters are weighing Biden vs. Trump when I think they’re actually weighing Biden vs. staying home.
It most certainly does. A vote is not an act of personal expression. There is a practical consequence to the refusal to support that, no matter how much one wants to make it about individuality, inevitably affects the entire body politic.
The “ain’t Black” comments prompted an apology from Biden.
“I shouldn’t have been such a wise guy. I shouldn’t have been so cavalier…I have never, ever taken the African American community for granted,” he said, perYamiche Alcindor. “No one should have to vote for any party based on their race, background, religion, or any demographic information.”
Robert Crippen is the only living NASA astronaut to have flown on a new spacecraft for the first time. The Crew Dragon flyers will join his elite club this week.
While Black American voters largely remain unimpressed and oftentimes bewildered by the Trump administration, the president isn’t giving up on wooing them.
From the Super Bowl ad highlighting his work on criminal justice reform to the “Black Voices for Trump” centers pushing “Woke” merchandise, President Donald Trump appears to have a never-ending trick bag of stunts to entice Black voters.
Now comes word that during a meeting with Black Michigan leaders on Thursday, Trump is mullingbringing a new historically Black college to Detroit after prompting from a state elected official.
Meanwhile, Black Twitter is wondering how a college can be “new” and “historic.”
To make it make sense, one must turn to the mastermind behind the idea, Michigan Rep. Karen Whitsett, D-Detroit, who is looking to boost value to her city via a new higher learning that aimsto educate Black students,Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.
Detroit is the Blackest city in America by percentage.
Video footage captured from the meeting shows Whitsett touting her idea to President Trump. The two appeared at a meeting at a Ford Motor Company plant, where ventilators and personal protective equipment are being built, near Ypsilanti, Mich.
“I would love to see a historically black college in the city of Detroit, and I think you’re just the president to do it,” she said during a roundtable discussion.
Trump immediately appears to be intrigued by the plan.
“It’s an interesting idea,” he said. “They’ve got a lot of money now. They’re all set. Maybe we can work something out. We’ll talk about that.”
The president then suggests John James, a Black Republican from Michigan and candidate for a Senate seat, “start working on” what he calls a “great” idea.
News of the meeting was quickly met with backlash on social media, namely due to the lack of historical context around a “new” Black college.
Journalist Roland Martin called the discussion “laughable.”
This is laughable. First, @realDonaldTrump says HBCU are financially “set.” Really? HBCU Presidents, has Liar-In-Chief given y’all all of the money to solve your financial woes? Hell no https://t.co/NOomIuNKLn
Even by federal definition, Rep. Whitsett’s plan cannot be introduced, as historically Blackcolleges and universities (HBCU’s) are thoseestablished before the Civil Rights Act of 1964, according tothe U.S. Department of Education, and the Higher Education Act of 1965.
Of the 107 HBCUs in existence, few are in the North as most are concentrated in the South. Detroit was the site of Lewis Business College, an HBCU also known as Lewis College of Business.
A recent NAACP poll shows African Americans have an unfavorable opinion on how President Trump and his administration have handled the coronavirus response.
According to the survey, conducted by the African American Research Collaborative, 80% of the national sample of African Americans rated Trump’s performance negatively while 19% have a positive view. Eighty percent of respondents polled also said they want the country to hold off on reopening the economy until safety is assured.
African Americans, however, viewed their local governments more positively. Sixty-three percent viewed their mayor’s response positively; 62% said their state’s governors were handling the crisis well.
The survey polled 604 African Americans from May 1 through May 7 using online and phone responses. Its margin of error was 3.9 percentage points.
The approval ratings for governors that have kept states closed were viewed more positively than in states that have reopened quickly, potentially putting thousands of black lives in jeopardy. In New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, 72% of respondents gave governors a positive rating. However, in Georgia and Florida, states that have already reopened, 42% of respondents viewed their governors negatively.
People who took part in the poll were also asked who they trust using a 10-point scale. Doctors and nurses received the highest average from respondents at 7.85. Local hospitals and public health officials followed at 7.24 and African American elected officials were third at 6.96.
President Trump was one of the lowest on the list at 3.05.
Forty-one percent of respondents also said they are either working from home or know someone who is. This is an uptick from a March study that showed less than 20% of African Americans were telecommuting. However, 36% said they had lost a job or had seen a cut in hours or know someone who had.
STERLING, Va. (AP) — President Donald Trump played golf Saturday for the first time since he declared the coronavirus pandemic a national emergency more than two months ago, leading to the shutdown of much of American society. His return to the course was the latest sign that he wants the country back to pre-outbreak times, even as the U.S. death toll from the virus nears 100,000, twice what he once predicted it would be.
Trump also planned Memorial Day visits to Arlington National Cemetery and the Fort McHenry national monument in Baltimore, followed by a trip to Florida’s coast on Wednesday to watch U.S. astronauts blast into orbit.
The golf outing came a day after Trump said houses of worship are “essential” and he demanded that governors allow them to reopen during the holiday weekend. It also followed guidance from Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House coronavirus task force coordinator, that it was OK for people to be outdoors this weekend as long as they took appropriate safety precautions.
Trump pulled away from the White House on a sunny morning wearing a white polo shirt, white cap and dark slacks. Photographs that appeared later on Twitter showed him swinging a golf club and driving alone in a cart on the course at his private Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, Virginia.
The motorcade for President Donald Trump arrives at Trump National Golf Club, Saturday, May 23, 2020, in Sterling, Va. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
The White House had no comment on the president’s activities at the club, but said he and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had discussed the pandemic’s effect on the global economy on Saturday.
The golf trip was the president’s first visit to one of his money-making properties since March 8, when he visited his private golf club in West Palm Beach during a weekend at his Florida home. The World Health Organization declared the coronavirus a global pandemic on March 11, and Trump followed with the national emergency declaration two days later.
Trump is an avid golfer who has been overheard telling his White House guests how much he missed playing the game.
President @realDonaldTrump waved at my camera on Saturday while golfing at his Virginia club.
His first visit to one of his golf properties since March amid the coronavirus pandemic.
By CNN's count, this is his 265th visit to one of his golf clubs since becoming President. #cnnpic.twitter.com/NBHofTOAnt
On Friday, Birx said it’s OK for Americans to play golf, tennis or other sports this weekend “if you stay 6 feet apart.” She also said the Washington metropolitan area had the highest positivity rate in the country. The capital city’s coronavirus death rate is higher than all but four states: New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts and Connecticut.
The U.S. leads the world with a reported 1.6 million coronavirus cases and more than 96,000 deaths, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.
Trump has ordered U.S. flags on federal buildings and national monuments to half-staff through Sunday in memory of Americans lost to COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.
American flags fly at half-staff, following orders from President Donald Trump to honor COVID-19 victims, near the Washington Monument on the National Mall, May 22, 2020 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
Trump levied frequent criticism of Barack Obama’s regular golf outings when he was president.
“Can you believe that with all of the problems and difficulties facing the U.S., President Obama spent the day playing golf. Worse than Carter,” Trump tweeted in October 2014 during the Ebola epidemic in West Africa, comparing Obama to former President Jimmy Carter.
Can you believe that,with all of the problems and difficulties facing the U.S., President Obama spent the day playing golf.Worse than Carter
Former Detroit Mayor, Kwame Kilpatrick, has been granted early release and will be freed 21 years early next month to home confinement, according to the Detroit Free Press. Kilpatrick, 49, was originally scheduled to be released in the year 2037 after being convicted on 24 counts of public corruption including bribery, racketeering and fraud.
William Barr, the U.S. Attorney General, has ordered the federal Bureau of Prisons to release as many inmates as possible to home confinement due to COVID-19. The coronavirus has been seen to spread rapidly in prisons where the opportunity to social distance is severely limited.
The Ebony Foundation have been champions of freeing the former disgraced mayor, partnering with several other black leaders to petition for Kilpatrick’s release. The National Baptist Convention of America, the NAACP, the National Business League, and several pastors of Black churches across the country had petitioned President Donald Trump to grant clemency to Kilpatrick.
“He said that he was being released,” state Rep. Karen Whitsett, D-Detroit, who has been pushing for Kilpatrick’s freedom said, adding: “I’m elated for him. … An out is an out. … He’s done his time. And I think, ‘My God, when is long enough long enough.’ ”
Whitsett, also told the Detroit Free press, that she confirmed with the White House that Kilpatrick is among 3,000 inmates who will be released. Whitsett had previously tested positive for the coronavirus in March and has credited Donald Trump for promoting hydroxychloroquine which she believes saved her life.
Current Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan was asked during a press briefing for his thoughts on the situation.
“Known him since he was in high school. When he was teaching at Marcus Garvey and going to law school at night at DCL, he’d study in his father’s office which was next to mine and his twins would play on the floor in my office,” Duggan told Fox 2 Detroit.
Duggan said his connection to Kilpatrick is “very personal.”
“He has a lot to contribute and if, in fact, the reports [of his early release] are true, I’ll be doing anything I can to help him get a fresh start,” the mayor said.
Just as 9/11 defined the new millennium, the novel coronavirus will certainly be the story of the decade.
The global pandemic has caused a devastating public health crisis, initiated a global economic disaster, and in the United States, pulled back the curtain on the deep-rooted racial inequities that persist. Just as COVID-19 is a deadly virus, so is the disease of racism, particularly systemic racism.
We now have data to support what many of us already knew, when America catches a cold, black America gets pneumonia. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not suggesting that the coronavirus discriminates. It certainly does not. But the conditions that allow the disease to flourish have a 400-year history rooted in racism—inadequate housing, over-policed neighborhoods, limited access to fresh foods, uninsured or under-insured health needs, poor-quality schools, and low-wage (aka essential) jobs.
Essential workers are the people who make the world go around. For this writing, I’m not speaking of our front line healthcare workers (although we are truly indebted to their service and tireless and heroic efforts), but the other folks who work in designated essential roles. They are the people we take for granted until we can’t. They are the people who fight on the “front lines” and don’t have the option to shelter in place. They are the folks who work public transportation, process meat, ring up and bag groceries, make and serve our breakfast sandwiches, pick up our trash, sanitize and clean our offices, and the private security staff. They are the people for whom Dr. Martin Luther King marched and died.
The data is clear, African Americans are dying from the coronavirus at higher rates than other populations. As more data and anecdotal evidence became available and published it simply confirmed what I expected, black folks continue to get the short end of the stick. From the story of a young woman in New York who died from the virus because she couldn’t get tested, to the young man who was brutalized by the police in New York for not wearing a face mask, to the security guard who was shot for asking a patron to put on a face mask.
The real story is what are we going to finally do about these inequities. When are we going to correct these wrongs? When are we going to ensure that work pays, especially for essential workers? When will we create a healthcare system that focuses on wellness, where physicians determine treatment, not insurance companies? When will our school systems be accepting of ALL children, have high expectations of ALL children, and teach all of them to succeed, not simply teach them to pass a test? When will the water in Flint’s majority African American community be as safe to drink as the water in Bloomfield Hills? And when will an African American man be able to jog through his community without fearing for his life?
Martin Luther King Jr. was wholly focused on the issues of poverty and labor before his assassination in 1968, 52 years ago.“With patient and firm determination we will press on until every valley of despair is exalted to new peaks of hope, until every mountain of pride and irrationality is made low by the leveling process of humility and compassion; until the rough places of injustice are transformed into a smooth plane of equality of opportunity; and until the crooked places of prejudice are transformed by the straightening process of bright-eyed wisdom.”
Fifty-two years later we ask, how long is until?
If this pandemic has not demonstrated the inequities that drive our system of capitalism and that none of us will be well until all of us are well, I’m not sure what it will take for us to get it. Black America has suffered the brunt of the ills of our society for far too long. Let us not waste this crisis. Let’s stop talking about equity and just do it!
This is an opinion piece that does not necessarily reflect the views of BLACK ENTERPRISE.
Lisa Piccirillo encountered the more than 50-year-old question by chance at a conference. Her solution relies on a classical tool called the knot trace.
Edward Snowden revealed the agency’s phone-record tracking program. But thanks to “precomputed contact chaining,” that database was much more powerful than anyone knew.
The ongoing coronavirus pandemic continues to wreak havoc on the world, putting the most vulnerable communities at risk for infection and economic hardship.
According to a poll published by The New York Times, 49% of New York City residents are concerned about how they will afford food during the pandemic. As a result, the number of people turning to the Food Bank For New York City’s emergency food network has increased by 50%. To help provide meals for New Yorkers in need, WQHT-FM HOT 97 and its sister-station, WBLS-FM 107.5, teamed up with the Food Bank For New York City to provide 225,000 meals to the hungry.
Last month, the organization launched two GoFundMe campaigns with the goal of raising funds to support 200,000 meals in total, reported NY1. However, the initiatives surpassed the goal.
“To see everyone come together and support in such an authentic way was really special. People want to help each other. We’re lucky to be able to make it happen,” said HOT 97 radio personality Ebro Darden in a statement. In addition, Grace Foods, the Caribbean’s leading food manufacturer and distributor, also donated 1600 lbs of food.
(Photo by Michael Loccisano/Getty Images for Food Bank For New York City)
“The WBLS listening family really rallied around this! We proclaimed it to be Food Bank Friday, got the word out on-air that we were close to the goal, and the donations came pouring in,” said longtime WBLS radio personality Shaila.
“We are so grateful for the outpouring of support from HOT 97 and WBLS, who rallied their listeners and supporters to ensure that our fellow New Yorkers have food on their tables,” said Dr. Camesha Grant, the Vice President, Community Connections & Reach. “Thanks to your support, Food Bank For New York City will be able to provide meals to many families in need through these very difficult times.”
Since the pandemic began, Food Bank says it distributed nearly 12.5 million meals throughout the state. The org has also partnered with the NYC Health + Hospitals network to provide food and emergency grocery bags for more than 30,000 healthcare workers
In spite of the global COVID-19 crisis, which has put 38.6 million Americans out of work and upended entire industries, the wealthiest people in the country are thriving.
According to a new report by Americans for Tax Fairness and the Institute for Policy Studies (IPS), the nation’s 623 billionaires saw their net worth increase by $434 billion in the first two months of the pandemic thanks in large part to tax cuts and loopholes. As a result, while much of the country was locked down, the wealth of the billionaire class grew 15% from $2.9 trillion to $3.4 trillion between March 19 to May 19.
The five richest billionaires — Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg, investor Warren Buffett, and Oracle founder Larry Ellison – had the biggest gains, with a 19% jump or a total increase of $75.5 billion. Tech magnate Elon Musk, however, had the largest percentage gain during the two months, seeing his net worth jump by 48% to $36 billion. Zuckerberg came in second as his net worth surged by 46%, giving him an added $80 billion. Bezos gained $34.6 billion, bringing his fortune to $147 billion.
On the other end of the spectrum, hip hop’s first billionaire Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter, gained just 4.2% of wealth during that time, while Kanye West reached the billionaire benchmark in April. Media mogul Oprah Winfrey saw an increase of 5.6% and black billionaire David Stewart, the founder of World Wide Technology, saw a 0.5% jump in his net worth. The two other African American billionaires, philanthropist Robert F. Smith and Michael Jordan, didn’t gain at all or saw their wealth take a slight hit, respectively.
The report comes as the economy and labor force continue to grapple with the worst economic crisis in recent history. Low-income workers and particularly those of color have been hit hardest over the last two months. Forbes reports that 40% of people earning less than $40,000 annually back in February have since lost their jobs.
The “Millionaires Giveaway”
Decades of tax cuts for the rich have fueled the growth of billionaires and their wealth, according to the ATF and IPS. The left-leaning think tanks argue that the wealthy received its most recent tax handout in the CARES pandemic relief law enacted in late March, which gives an average tax cut of $1.6 million this year to 43,000 millionaires and billionaires. Rather than what it calls the “Millionaires Giveaway,” the orgs say closing this loophole would raise $246 billion, which could be used for pandemic relief.
“While millions risk their lives and livelihoods as first responders and front line workers, these billionaires benefit from an economy and tax system that is wired to funnel wealth to the top,” said Chuck Collins, director of the IPS Program on Inequality, in a press release.
The wealth gap between the 1% on the economic ladder and the rest of the country was already immense before the coronavirus began to wreak havoc on the U.S. economy. Forbes reports:
That existing rift has increased over the last two months, as evidenced by the inverse relationship between employment numbers (particularly for low-income earners) and the composite wealth of America’s billionaire class. In addition to job losses, an estimated 16 million U.S. workers have likely lost employer-provided health insurance since the pandemic first began to impact America. Those with considerable wealth have benefited from the stock market’s recovery, after an initial crash in the early stages of the pandemic, rallying on promises of assistance from the Federal Reserve. Ultimately, the global economy, in a worst-case scenario, could take an $80 trillion hit, according to a recent study.
“The pandemic has revealed the deadly consequences of America’s yawning wealth gap, and billionaires are the glaring symbol of that economic inequality,” Americans for Tax Fairness executive director Frank Clemente said in the report. He added, “Post-pandemic, the rich and corporations must begin to pay their fair share of taxes so we can build a society that works for everyone, not just billionaires and others at the top.”
The NFL has updated its redesigned website after the league was called out on social media for mischaracterizing Colin Kaepernick‘s career status.
Nessa Diab, a TV host and Kaepernick’s partner, thanked Twitter users on Saturday morning for holding the professional football league “accountable for falsely reporting that Colin ‘retired’ on their website.”
“They heard you loud & clear bc the NFL put the accurate description that @Kaepernick7 is a Unrestricted Free Agent (UFA). Tell them to stop denying him employment,” she wrote in a post, sharing a screenshot of Kaepernick’s bio page.
Thank you to everyone who held the @NFL accountable for falsely reporting that Colin “retired” on their website. They heard you loud & clear bc the NFL put the accurate description that @Kaepernick7 is a Unrestricted Free Agent (UFA). Tell them to stop denying him employment. pic.twitter.com/klK7a6qRTY
The NFL, the most popular sports league in America, launched its new website on Friday and the listing for former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Kaepernick, who hasn’t played a game in the past three seasons, drew ire from many.
Diab took to Twitter that day to set the record straight, calling out the league, NFL Players Association and Commissioner Roger Goddell for “lying.”
“Colin did NOT retire,” she posted, along with a screenshot of the free agent’s profile that characterized him as “retired” at the time. “You cowards blackballed him bc (sic) he peacefully protested against police brutality. He’s a Superbowl QB & should be playing bc (sic) his stats show that.”
Prior to that, Diab, who hosts NBC‘s “Talk Stoop,” shared a post from another tweeter who also took issue with Kaepernick’s characterization on the revamped site, while taking a hit at the NFL’s NFL’s Inspire Change initiative, which is a program backed by recording artist Jay-Z.
Hey @NFL & @nflcommish I just discovered some of your recent edits to your website. It states that Colin Kaepernick is "retired" and you have removed his image from his player's profile. I guess this is what you meant by #InspireChange by falsifying facts.https://t.co/swpMgpru4e
The countless messages shared on social media about the situation seems to have reached the league. The page has since been updated as of Saturday morning, listing Kaepernick as a “UFA.”
Kaepernick, 32, filed a claim against the NFL in 2017, accusing the league of collusion to keep him off the field after choosing to take a knee during National Anthem at San Francisco 49ers games in protest of police brutality. The two parties settled out of court in 2019.
The silent protest proved divisive, drawing support from many and the ire of others, including condemnation from President Donald Trump.
While the ex-49ers quarterback, who guided the team to Super Bowl XLVII in 2013, has become an acclaimed social activist, he’s been vocal about his desire to return to the NFL.
Kaepernick, who has gone unsigned since the 2016 season, put his skills on display at an open and highly publicized workout in November in efforts to show that he still has the talent to play. The events surrounding the workout, which was initially to be held by the NFL, also proved controversial.
Kaepernick, however, has stayed consistent with his desire to play the game.
“I’ve been ready, I’m staying ready, and I’ll continue to be ready,” Kaepernick told the media during the workout. “The ball’s in their court. We’re ready to go.”
Basketball legend Patrick Ewing announced on Friday that he has tested positive for coronavirus.
The basketball Hall of Famer, who is now the head coach of GeorgetownUniversity‘s men’s basketball team, made the statement as a way to let the public know how serious the disease is.
“I want to share that I have tested positive for COVID-19. This virus is serious and should not be taken lightly,” the 57-year-old stated on Twitter. “I want to encourage everyone to stay safe and take care of yourselves and your loved ones.”
Ewing, who was the first pick overall in the 1985 NBA draft, made the formal announcement through the private Washington, D.C., institution’s athletic department.
“Ewing has elected to share his diagnosis publicly to emphasize that this virus can affect anyone,” Georgetown included in the statement.
I want to share that I have tested positive for COVID-19. This virus is serious and should not be taken lightly. I want to encourage everyone to stay safe and take care of yourselves and your loved ones. pic.twitter.com/a2fMuhIZyG
Ewing is currently isolated at a local hospital. He also made sure to give attention to all the essential workers helping to combat COVID-19, while also sharing optimistic words.
“Now more than ever, I want to thank the healthcare workers and everyone on the front lines,” he said in the statement. I’ll be fine and we will all get through this.”
Ewing, who played 17 years in the NBA, was in the midst of his third year coaching at his alma mater, Georgetown, where he was a three-time All-American center. In a recent interview with NBC Sports, he revealed how he keeps in touch with his roster using Zoom and Facetime.
“We’re talking to them, we’re Zooming them, Face-Timing them. We’re trying to do it all,” Ewing said.
In the battle of the big men, Patrick Ewing, #33 of the New York Knicks, wins over Shawn Bradley of the Philadelphia 76ers during the game at Madison Square Garden, New York City on Feb. 26, 1995.
Ewing also mentioned the challenge of recruiting new players during a pandemic.
“We can’t go out and sit in living rooms. We try to do it and figure out other ways to try and get the job done,” he explained.
Georgetown stated that Ewing is the only member of the men’s basketball program to test positive for COVID-19.
Ewing spent 15 of his 17 years in the NBA with the New York Knicks, where he was an 11-time all-star at center. Former teammate Charles Oakley tweeted a message of support:
Barbara Clarke Ruiz has spent the last two decades traveling back and forth from her home in New Jersey to employers and clients as far away as France, Italy, and Germany to help them build their brands. Three years ago, she started a different adventure, as an entrepreneur, when she started making premium dog treats.
She and her husband, Jose Ruiz, co-founded Lick You Silly pet products, all-natural chicken- and beef-based treats made in the USA.
“I grew up with dogs. I love, love dogs. I’ve never not had a dog in my life,” says Clarke Ruiz, who had two Yorkies—Pepper and Chili—before Pepper passed away the January before last.
The dog treats are sold through the company’s website and at about 21 smaller retailers, but the bulk of the business comes from Amazon, where Lick You Silly is an Amazon Choice product.
As with many food products, the coronavirus pandemic has had a positive impact on the business. “We probably increased our business by 300%,” she says.
“The pandemic is horrible, but I’m happy to have been in a position to provide people a product that they can feel confident about giving their dogs and helping their dogs to find a little comfort.”
Lick You Silly gift bag
BLACK ENTERPRISE caught up with Clarke Ruiz to talk about how she turned her passion into a profitable business.
What made you start a dog treats company?
I started Lick You Silly just from a need that I saw in the market. I had started to cook food for my dogs because they were starting to get older, and whenever I gave my dog a treat, they would throw it up. I started doing a lot of research, really educating myself around dog treats and foods and companies, and what potential competition there would be. I wanted to create an all-natural premium dog treat, something that I didn’t have to worry about a whole lot of added ingredients. I wanted a product that didn’t have hormones, synthetics, gluten. We don’t have any kind of chemicals or synthetics, it’s just a great grade of USDA meat that we produce here in the U.S. We’ve also just introduced the peanut butter treat because there’s a lot of people who are now vegetarian and they don’t eat meat, and they don’t give their dogs meat.
In addition to retail, and working with dog groomers, how else are you getting your products out there?
I’m always trying to think about creative ways to increase our business. One of my favorite hotels is a Kimpton. So I called up a Kimpton in the city; they had just announced that they were doing some special amenities for dogs and I followed up with that. It took quite some time for me to be able to get into these hotels. But I created packaging specifically for them. I had to create some unique items that only the hotels would carry so it would be special. I ended up doing a mini comic book about Yum Yum, which is our dog character on the bag, a dog’s perception of what it would be like to go to a hotel for the first time. Venus Williams’ dog wrote the foreword in the book, and my daughter, who was an animation major, animated the whole book. It’s really cute and funny. And we are now the pet amenity for eight Kimpton hotels.
It’s also important to you that the company stands for something more than a premium product.
We wanted to build a different kind of a dog treat company. And just based on my experience with brand building, I knew it had to be a great story and it had to make a difference. So we have various initiatives that we do with people and their pets. I woke up one morning and said. “I’m going to do a commercial.” So I went on my town’s Facebook page, we have a dog Facebook page—that’s how many dogs live in this town—and I said who’s interested in helping me do a commercial; however number of volunteers I get, I will donate a bag of dog treats to the Montclair [New Jersey] shelter. We want to use dogs to get their humans to do some good in the world. We have an initiative that we’re implementing now called Lick Silly With Kindness. I put a card randomly inside a bag of our dog treats and when you get it, you win a free 4-oz. bag of our treats. But we’re asking you in exchange to do a random act of kindness.
Before becoming an entrepreneur, you spent your career building other people’s brands.
For the last 20 years I have been working as an activewear design consultant. I’ve worked with a lot of world class brands. I’m a designer, so I design their product, I figure out how we’re going to position it in the market, I do research, I do fabric development, packaging, working with marketing, social media—I do all of that as a profession. I’ve done that with companies like Adidas and Nike and New Balance and Asics. I was Walmart’s design director for the activewear division. I also had the grand pleasure of working alongside Venus Williams when she started her brand Eleven by Venus Williams. I just love starting new brands. I don’t even think twice when it’s a good idea. I’m probably the opposite of a lot of people: They have an idea but don’t know how to get it out and I’m like, “I do.”
What advice do you have for aspiring entrepreneurs sitting on their own ideas for products?
This wasn’t something that I had planned. I just woke up one day and said, “I want to start a dog treat company.” And you just do it. You connect with people who can help you to implement those dreams. Don’t give up on those journeys. Now is a great time to follow through with things that you’ve been thinking about, that have been on the back burner, and that you didn’t have time to do. Now you’ve got the time to do it. So I would encourage anyone out there that has a dream or a passion that they’ve been putting on the back burner to move it to the front burner and figure out how to do it. Reach out to me, I’m happy to help.
President Donald Trump, who acknowledged there could be a second wave of the coronavirus epidemic later this year, stated he wouldn’t let a second outbreak stop the economy.
“People say that’s a very distinct possibility,” Trump told reporters in Michigan Thursday. “It’s standard. And, we’re going put out the fires. We’re not going to close the country.”
According to Fox News, the president’s comments came as he toured the Ford Motor Co. plant outside of Detroit that is now making ventilators.
Conservative radio host Buck Sexton said Trump told him the same during a White House interview Wednesday.
“We will not do a lockdown for the second wave that is likely to come in the winter,” Trump said on Sexton’s show.
The president’s visit to Michigan was only the third time he’s left the White House since the pandemic began. The trip also comes at a time where Trump has battled Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer on several fronts.
On Wednesday, Trump said he would withhold federal funds from Michigan because the state sent absentee ballots to its 7.7 million voters. In April, Trump emboldened protesters who stormed the Michigan state capital in an armed, anti-quarantine protest of Whitmer closing the state.
The protest received so much media attention, state Rep Sarah Anthony was escorted by an armed group of African American volunteers back to her office several days later.
The president also made the visit as a Fox News poll shows him behind Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden. Trump’s reelection advisors are increasingly worried about how the president is viewed in the state as his attacks on Whitmer have been viewed unfavorably in the state.
Trump planned to use the U.S. economy, which was thriving before the coronavirus pandemic hit U.S. shores in February, as a significant part of his reelection bid. However, with unemployment numbers rising everyday and more than 100,000 dead due to the virus Trump will have to change his strategy.
Democrats are not letting go of the idea of nominating former first lady Michelle Obama as the vice president for the 2020 presidential elections. As the elections near, many politicians, pundits, and organizers are having conversations about how women can save America and help Joe Biden win his bid for president. Many people believe that woman is Obama.
In April, Biden enthusiastically shared that he would select Obama as VP, and others agreed that she would be the ultimate pick.
Now, a recent poll conducted by CBS and YouGov found that 64% of Democrats would like to see Michelle Obama as the Democratic Vice President pick. Of those respondents, 70% were black in favor of Obama and 59% were white. Separately, 36% of respondents favored Elizabeth Warren and 19% favored Kamala Harris. In no relation to the study, others are rooting for Stacey Abrams to be nominated as well.
Democrats responding to the poll also showed favorable interest in Biden selecting a woman to be his running mate. Forty-five percent of people said that Biden should select a woman, 6% were in favor of a man, and 49% of people said gender does not matter.
Sharing in the desire to nominate Obama for vice president is The Committee to Draft Michelle Obama. The committee’s mission is to generate public interest for Michelle Obama’s vice-presidential candidacy by driving media attention and building on existing grassroots support. As stated on its website: “She remains one of the most trusted and well-liked American women and we hope that by bringing attention to Mrs. Obama, more Americans will realize the need to have her on the ballot this November to help defeat Donald Trump.”
And they are rallying others to join its mission to pique Obama’s interest in running. As outlined on The Committee to Draft Michelle Obama website, they stand firmly on the belief that Obama is the best moral nominee for the role.
“With a historic battle to reclaim the soul of America looming this November and the peril caused by the Coronavirus Pandemic, it remains in the best interest of the Democratic Party to nominate a vice-presidential candidate who has the trust of the American people, a vision to lead our nation forward and empathy for the challenges faced by all Americans,” the committee wrote.
It is important that whomever Biden chooses to run with can appeal to swing or Trump voters (57%); motivate traditional Democrats to vote in large numbers (71%), and is ready to become President if needed (82%).
Obama has yet to express her interest in joining the 2020 ticket, but, many are hopeful that she will take the call to action into consideration.
The pandemic has taken an acute toll on tribal nations that are also struggling with a lack of running water, sparse internet, and a high rates of chronic illness.
