SHOPPE BLACK

GrpFit is using Technology to Promote Health and Fitness in the Black Community

5 mins read

GrpFit is a fitness app created to address health issues in the Black community.

Since we’re all about health and wellness, we decided to find out more about the company. We spoke to co-founder Rich Bailey and this is what he had to say.

Grpfit
Grpfit co-founders: Chris Ketant and Rich Bailey

What inspired you to create Grpfit?

It’s no secret that certain health issues such as obesity, diabetes and hypertension are more prevalent in the Black community. But, some of the statistics are baffling. According to studies, 76% of our community is either overweight or obese and 43% of us have hypertension.

And then, when it comes to causes of deaths, heart disease and stroke are #1 and #3, respectively. A lot of these health issues can be alleviated by living and maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Because of that, we decided to create GrpFit with the mission of making the Black community a more fit and healthier one.

The Black community has many health issues that need to be addressed. How does GrpFit provide a solution? 

GrpFit is a safe and encouraging platform for people of all fitness levels to share their fitness journeys, learn and motivate each other. Users of the app can share photos and videos, get sample workouts and read health and fitness related articles.

Our most powerful aspect of GrpFit is the ability to connect with other people who you can relate too. An underrated part of any fitness journey is the accountability and motivation you receive when you have a great support system and community behind you. We are providing a platform for people seek those type of connections.

We also have a ton of other features and services that are currently being developed and will be released in the near future. Stay tuned!

What has been the most gratifying and the most challenging thing you’ve experienced as an entrepreneur thus far?

The most gratifying thing is the opportunity to serve as an inspiration to others. Becoming an entrepreneur/tech startup founder is no easy feat, so showing other people that it can be done is so fulfilling.

The most challenging thing I’ve experienced is being able balancing the pressure to succeed with taking your time to figure out what’s right for your company and brand. The pressure to succeed can often lead to making quick decisions that aren’t fully thought through. Every decision you will make should tie back to your vision/brand and what’s best for your users.

Tell us about your 21 day fitness challenge.

The 21-Day Challenge was something we did back in January and February of this year with 21Ninety and Gym Hooky. Its purpose was to provide women the tools and resources to create lifestyle changing habits as it relates to health and fitness.

We provided the members with community support, weekly Q&A sessions, daily challenges and guides that helped them create goals, choose better foods and pick and perform exercises.

Where do you see the company in 5 years?

In 5 years, GrpFit will be the one-stop-shop for everything related to Black Health and Fitness. We want to be atop of everyone’s mind when it comes exercising, advice, fitness communities and a source of information. Ultimately, we want GrpFit to be synonymous with Black Health and Fitness.

What advice do you have for aspiring entrepreneurs?

Nothing is too hard to accomplish. If you don’t have the necessary skills to embark on your entrepreneurial journey, then take the time to educate yourself and surround yourself with others who complement your skills. Also, be prepared to learn along the way and always keep an open mind to changing things at a drop of a dime. The latter is crucial because what you think may be a great idea may not be what people want.

 

GrpFit is currently available on iOS and Android. 

 

-Tony Oluwatoyin Lawson (IG @thebusyafrican)

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ABIAH Pays Tribute to Nina Simone on Upcoming Album

9 mins read
abiah

The week after Nina Simone, our fierce activist artist born as Eunice Wyman, was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, I arrived at the charming residence of renowned vocalist Jeremiah Abiah.

It was a dismally rainy Sunday afternoon in the cold of April. Located on a Central Harlem brownstone block, in the same neighborhood as the World Famous Apollo Theater, where he recently performed a sold-out show, the scent of just-prepared jollof rice, and a simmering pot of cinnamon sticks greeted me at the door.

abiah

As I removed my shoes to enter, the classically-trained crooner informed me that he’d prepared the Ghanaian staple dish in my honor, and later we would break bread while listening to his forthcoming tribute album, ABIAH Sings Nina. We chuckled about the never-ending debate: Ghanaian jollof versus Nigerian jollof, on which he is Team Ghanaian given his own heritage.

And while putting the finishing touches on his family recipe, reflecting on how much of the consummate chef he truly is, we jumped into our conversation about the new album and what led him to record this tribute to the High Priestess of Soul.

To give a bit of background, ABIAH is a bi-coastal independent singer-songwriter who, like so many talented performers, has devoted his life to the mastery of music and vocal performance. He matured as a vocalist singing opera in Northern Italy after seriously studying classical music, and making his Carnegie Hall debut at the age of 21.

In his early days as a performer ABIAH sang background for legends like George Michael and Yolanda Adams, and even signed a major recording deal that turned out to be the worst mistake of his career, artistically and business wise. But, you live and you learn. And you count your blessings when a kismet phone call from a family member tips the dominoes over in a masterful plan transforming your identity as a performer.

In ABIAH’s case, that phone call came from multi-Grammy Award winning Blue Note artist Robert Glasper who collaborated with him in recording his internationally chart-topping debut album, Life As A Ballad. In the process of working with Glasper, ABIAH also found the confidence to form his own record label and gain distribution for the project, which is no small feat for any indie content creator.

Over the last decade, he’s gone on to release two more albums, Chasing Forever and Bottles, creating his first trilogy. Of the three part series, ABIAH has always stood on his ability to re-imagine songs, or rather re-image a composition that has already been owned by an artist. More than just covering the tune, he relishes in his ability to conceptually flip a previously recorded song on its ear, and approach it from a new perspective.

That’s exactly what we can expect of his latest studio project, ABIAH Sings Nina, which will be released worldwide on May 6th. Wanting to cover Nina Simone for quite some time, he began his journey with her music while studying voice in grad school.

A discussion at the conservatory introduced Jeremiah to Simone’s “Strange Fruit.” In the recording he was able to hear and feel all of the things that he’d been studying in his classes. “I could see visually from the way she sang it. I was very intrigued by her, infatuated with how she was even re-imaging the music from a vocal and harmonic perspective, piano wise.

In graduate school at that point, 21 years old, I really became enraptured by her.” Nina Simone would become one of the biggest influences on his life as a vocalist, in addition to the highly revered alto of Anita Baker. Starting with her first record, he began to listen and study everything Nina. When he performed, he made sure to play in ways that evoked the lyrics of a particular song that exuded something unique while creating a world within the music.

When asked if any of the project encompasses Nina’s fire and passion for political and social justice, ABIAH gives a poignant and thoughtful response:

“I try to think of Nina’s wholeness. I’m focusing on the early part of her career, all of her love songs. I wanted to focus on the ‘love’ part of Nina. People have exhausted her political life. I wanted a more pure look in focusing on the beauty of her love songs.” Pausing to really emphasize his next point, he continued, “We are in a very dark time, period. My job as an artist is to bring some light and love into the world. Where are the love songs?”

The muse did endow him with the album’s sole political ballad. In the vein of Nina Simone, ABIAH penned the lyrics to “I’m Just Like You” in homage to the legacy of Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, Tamir Rice and the countless other young Black men who have been shot down in racially motivated violence. “Nina touched and healed a lot of people with her music,” he’s mindful to point out.

On the album, ABIAH says his best intentions were to stay close to her arrangements so that the songs were identifiable. But, as a visionary artist himself, he took liberties to create the music in ways that are distinct to who he is as an arranger and vocalist. Not to mention that another phone call from Robert Glasper resulted in ABIAH working as one of the vocal producers on the soundtrack to the Oscar-nominated documentary What Happened, Miss Simone?

And how does his Ghanaian/Cuban heritage intersect with this latest creative venture? While ABIAH didn’t grow up with his Cuban connection, his Ghanaian blood, from his father, is very much a part of his identity as a man moving through the world.

He celebrates Ghanaian style by wearing swagalicious Kente on the album’s cover, and chose to add West African rhythmic time signatures to his rendition of Nina’s “See-Line Woman.”

He had a memorable time in Accra two years ago while shooting a video for his last album, Bottles, and later this year is planning to release an AfroSoul House remix of ABIAH Sings Nina.

Click here to Pre-order ‘ABIAH sings NINA’.

– Contributed by Mai Perkins

Mai Perkins, aka FlyMai, is Cali girl in a Bed Stuy world with global bon vivant flair and the passport stamps to prove it. She currently works in Edtech, and is the author of several blogs including Uberlicious.nyc and MaiOnTheMove.com and is a columnist for the music publication Pop-Mag.com.

With an MFA in Creative Writing from Sarah Lawrence College and an MA in International Affairs from The New School Milano, she reps her beloved alma mater Howard University every chance she gets. As a poet and a creative non-fiction writer, she looks forward to soon publishing her first manuscript, The Walking Nerve-Ending.

Insta: @flymai16

Twitter: @flymai on Twitter

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Black Woman Directs First Ever Romantic Comedy about Black Muslim Life

9 mins read
romantic comedy

We all love a good romantic comedy, right? You know those hilariously relatable ones with the universal storyline: Gorgeous girl-loves-undeserving guy, they marry, he cheats, then, naturally, it all falls apart… Can the girl save her marriage with her beloved-albeit-trifling husband??

Or will she emerge after heartbreak more empowered with a new lease on life and a new Prince Charming?? We love to kick back with our favorite bottle of wine or comfort food watching our RomCom faves over and over, rooting for the girl who often reminds us of our own selves when love goes south (if even temporarily)!

She always wins though, and no matter how many times you watch these classic movies, they never get old.

Google “Romantic Comedies” and the top ten results reveal some of the classics: When Harry Met Sally, Pretty Woman, How To Lose A Guy In Ten Days, The Proposal, Love Actually, You’ve Got Mail, Sleepless in Seattle, Bridget Jones Diary, 50 First Dates, and Ten Things I Hate About You.

And of course we have our beloved Black RomComs: Boomerang, Love Jones, Brown Sugar, Poetic Justice, The Best Man, Love & Basketball, Think Like A Man,  How Stella Got Her Groove Back, and the 1974 classic, Claudine.

But when was the last time a beautiful heroine that got her life together, ditching her zero for a hero, was an orthodox Muslim Black American? I’ll answer that, NEVER.

Let Hollywood tell it, there is no natural intersection between the romantic comedy genre and Islam. And even if there is, they’d have you believe that there’s no audience for such films. But director Aminah Bakeer Abdul-Jabbaar is here to shatter that misconception with her hilariously witty new indie movie Muslimah’s Guide To Marriage.

Filmed in Los Angeles over a two week period in 2016, the story follows Muslimah Muhammad played by Ebony Perry, a twenty-something African-American orthodox Muslim woman from Inglewood, CA who works as a counselor at South Central High.

Ebony Perry

As the tagline sums up, “She has seven days and fourteen hours left in her Iddah (Muslim separation) before she will officially be divorced from her cheating husband. Knowing that the divorce would upset her religious father and the local Muslim community, Muslimah works diligently to try to fix her broken marriage before it is too late.”

Premiering at the Los Angeles Pan African Film Festival (PAFF), where it won the distinction of “Audience Award – Narrative Feature”, Muslimah’s Guide To Marriage was recently featured in Brooklyn, NY at BAM Rose Cinemas’ New Voices in Black Cinema film series.

Director-Aminah-Bakeer-Abdul-Jabbaar-accepts-the-Audience-Award-Narrative-Feature with Donald-Bakeer-and-Ayuko-Babu (Trendy Africa)

Not to mention that it sold out three days of screening during PAFF, including Valentine’s Day (how’s that for reaching an audience)!  

Masterful in the conventions of romantic comedies and well-versed in relatable Black humor, the film emerges as a unicorn in the fantastical realm of #blackgirlmagic, and that’s not just because Tiffany Haddish makes an appearance in the film.

It’s because this movie is so unapologetically Black, and so unapologetically Muslim, but at the same time, so hysterically funny. It’s also authentic in its representation of beautiful and intelligent, savvy and independent Black Muslim women.

The type of Muslim women who call into question the things that just don’t make sense to them despite the well-intentioned advice from family and friends.

In this case, Muslimah’s father played by Glenn Plummer. The type of Muslim women who do not give up faith, and, better yet, are reliant on the religious faith that has nurtured their solid sensibilities as women in a secular world.

Glenn Plummer

The type of Muslim women who are quirky and outrageous, who have men of all ethnicities and backgrounds finding them desirable, and actually have untold options in life that include more than whether to remain married or get divorced. Just ask Ummi, Muslimah’s unmarried, wise and well-traveled mother played by Kimberly Bailey.

Mai Perkins (left) Aminah Bakeer Abdul-Jabbaar (center) and, Kenyatta Bakeer (right)

Muslimah’s Guide To Marriage is the brainchild of director Aminah Bakeer Abdul-Jabbaar, Assistant Professor of Pan African Studies at California State University, Los Angeles. It’s no surprise that she first picked up a camera to make a film with her siblings at the age of 10.

romantic comedy
Director, Aminah Bakeer Abdul-Jabbaar

Fast forward to present day, and you still see the tight-knit Bakeer family as a part of the cast and production of the film, with her sister Kenyatta producing while her father, Donald Bakeer, who wrote the book that inspired the movie South Central, executive produced Muslimah’s Guide To Marriage.

Scene from South Central (2002)

Aminah’s upbringing in the Nation of Islam, and her experiences in navigating a first marriage and subsequent divorce, helped shape the satirical storyline and the range of characters that could only be characterized through Abdul-Jabbaar’s personal lens.

While earning a BA from USC in Cinema Television with an emphasis in Critical Studies and an M.F.A. from UCLA in Film & TV Production with an emphasis in Directing, she’s cultivated the expertise and connections to forge a solid career as one of Hollywood’s few Muslim women filmmakers in demand.

Her first feature length documentary, Bilalian, won the Visionary Award at the 2002 Pan African Film Festival, which garnered a glowing review from Variety praising the film’s focus on Black American Muslims in America.

In the same way that Black Panther synthesizes the best and most entertaining aspects of Black excellence, Muslimah’s Guide To Marriage leaves an unforgettable impression on every viewer, whether Muslim or not.

Impressively, it’s captured the type of movie magic that’s found in the greatest romantic comedies you wish to watch over and over again. Mashallah!

 

– Contributed by Mai Perkins

Mai Perkins is Cali girl in a Bed Stuy world, with several blogs under her belt including Uberlicious.nyc and MaiOnTheMove.com. She is a contributing writer for the music publication Pop-Mag.com, and has written for Relevant and Bust Magazine.

With an MFA in Creative Writing from Sarah Lawrence College, and an MA in International Affairs from The New School, she reps her beloved alma mater, Howard University, every chance she gets. As a poet and a non-fiction writer, she has just published her first manuscript, The Walking Nerve-Ending, available now on Amazon & Kindle.

Insta: @flymai16

Twitter: @flymai on Twitter

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A Black Woman at Waffle House Brutalized by Police and No One Seems to Care

10 mins read
Black woman

“Black women are often considered angry and divisive in their interactions with others in both public and private. In mainstream feminism, our demand to have both our race and gender considered is called divisive from ‘all women’s issues.’ In Black political spaces, our desire to have our womanhood considered is called a distraction from the real issue. However, the manner in which Black women have always insisted on their right to dignity, their right to be heard, and their desire to be considered on matters of national import has much to teach us about what makes American democracy work.”

– Dr. Brittney Cooper, Author of Eloquent Rage

Black woman

I’ve been home the past couple of days and for the first time in a long time, actually watching the news. I try very conscientiously to monitor my intake of negative images and information. So, when I saw that yet another crazy white boy with a gun took the lives of multiple people, this time at a Waffle House in Tennessee, it made me feel for the families of the four deceased people who were tragically gunned down. 

When I mentioned the incident to my girl, she actually brought up another Waffle House incident – a Black woman, at a separate location in Alabama, questioned employees about plastic utensils she was being charged for and subsequently, police were called and we can guess what happened next. 

At a Waffle House location in a Mobile suburb, 25-year-old Chikesia Clemons was violently thrown to the ground by three white male police officers who not only physically violated her but also threatened to break her arms. They mishandled her so egregiously that her breasts were exposed while patrons continued to eat their meals and watch.

And now Waffle House has sided with the police. 

Why is this OK? 

When another friend brought up the incident, and expressed her anger about the lack of public response to its brutality, she asked, whether or not this is another example of patriarchy rearing its sexist head, specifically in our community. A couple of weeks ago, I received news about the two brothers who were arrested at my local Starbucks, all the way in Vancouver.

We even gave you a substantial list of 47 alternatives to patronize for your coffee/tea fixes. The public uproar to that specific racially charged incident was heard internationally. The response may not have been enough to shut down the giant corporation or end racism, but it was certainly enough to lead Starbucks to close each one of its North American stores on May 29th in order to conduct racial bias training with its staff.

On some level, we’re all implicit in our disregard and devaluation of the lives of Black women and girls.

Why are we not up in arms about the gross and brutal Waffle House arrest of Chikesia Clemons? Is it because the latest news cycle was focused on the site of another heinous act of domestic terrorism where the victims happen to be Black and the shooter, to no one’s surprise, is a white male?

While the media often can’t simultaneously acknowledge both traumatic events, can we not, as a community, hold space for both incidents?  Can we not hold Waffle House accountable and call for a shut down if not nationwide, definitely that particular location? But actually, that’s not enough.

When it comes to issues like this, and the girls being kidnapped by Boko Harama, or women killed by police, we need more than a boycott, we need powerful strategies and committed work, the kind that organizations like GirlTrek is doing, to save at  Black women and girls, one sister at a time.  That’s often the burden that we as Black women have to bare – working through trauma and pain as people who are both Black and woman. 

My particular brand of feminism isn’t always visible. I haven’t always self-identified as such namely because in my day-to-day struggles, I personally feel most oppressed by white people in response to my Blackness,  than I do by men, in response to my woman-ness.

However, I’d say that the work of so many of my Black Feminist scholar friends, and the countless of feminists before them would be in vain if I did not acknowledge or understand intersectionality and the ways that my race, gender and class overlap with one another and are impacted by the larger, white supremacist, sexist world in which I live.

I have not pressed play on the video of Chikesia’s brutal assault, nor will I share it here – I limit the amount of violence I allow myself to consume and seep into my consciousness. Additionally, I try my best to not perpetuate violence by sharing these videos with others. There’s also no reason why I want to see harm inflicted upon another Black woman, especially when that sister, who was well within her right to question Waffle House staff about an irregular policy, could have been me. 

If Chikesia were a Black man, I’m certain our collective response would have been drastically different.  The Black community’s backlash would have been resounding.

If you disagree, prove me wrong.

Another guy friend reminded me of the poignant piece penned by Damon Young where he likened cis-het Black men to the white people of the Black community.

Unfortunately, I don’t  have the capacity or the space in this quick post to share all of the reasons why this is true, but if you are in doubt, you can certainly look to the historical work of bell hooks, Alice Walker, Audre Lorde and Angela Davis.

And if their work isn’t contemporary enough, reference the analysis of dream hampton, Monifa Bandele, Dr. Brittney Cooper, Darnell Moore, Dr. Imani Perry,  Akiba Solomon and many others who have been doing the work of articulating how and why we should dismantle problematic toxic masculinity and the multitude of ways it rears its head in our community for our generation and those to come.

 

Dr. Brittney Cooper’s latest publication, Eloquent Rage

Coincidentally, I don’t eat at Waffle House, not for any personal reason other than the fact that we didn’t have them in New Orleans growing up, I most certainly won’t be eating there any time soon.

While I’m holding space for Rashon Nelson and Donte Robinson by not going to Starbucks, I’ll also be boycotting Waffle House and side eyeing not only the bystanders who did nothing, but the countless people who two weeks ago were outraged by a similar and yet less violent incident against two Black men, but who are awfully quiet in the wake of yet another incident of violence inflicted upon another Black woman.

Chance, we see you bro. And to the brothers out there doing the work of uplifting us, we see you too.

Zora Neale Hurston once said, “If you are silent about your pain, they’ll kill you and say you enjoyed it.”

Black women and femmes have been crying out loud for centuries, you’ve just chosen to act like you didn’t hear us.

– Shantrelle P. Lewis 

 

NOTE: For those of you who want to directly support the families of the Tennessee Waffle House homicides, you can do so by going here. A Go Fund Me has been set up by James Shaw, Jr. the Black man who risked his life to take down the Waffle House shooter.

If you want to contribute to the Justice for Chikesia campaign started by her friend, please click here.

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How Janice Bryant Howroyd turned a $900 loan from her mom into a Billion Dollar Business

10 mins read
Janice Bryant Howroyd

North Caroline native, Janice Bryant Howroyd is a multi millionaire entrepreneur and philanthropist. As the CEO and founder of the largest woman-owned workforce management company, ACT-1 Group, and the first Black woman to own a billion-dollar business, she’s charted her own course through the business world.

Her company, which generates $1.1 billion in net sales, has made her one of the richest self-made women in America, with a net worth that Forbes puts at $420 million. Here’s how she did it.

“Making lots from nothing”

In 1978, Howroyd started ACT-1 Group at the front office of a rug shop in Beverly Hills, California with a $900 loan from her mother.

“I wanted a really classy address, but I didn’t have really classy funds, so I borrowed $900 from my mom,” she tells CNBC. “That gave me about $1,500 to start my business.”

She used the money to buy the necessary startup equipment she needed to get her company off the ground.

“I thought I was Judy Jetson when I got my fax machine,” she says. “My business literally started with my fax machine, my phone and my contacts.”

With very little entrepreneurial experience, Howroyd says she relied on early lessons from her parents to help her grow her company. Additional help to businesses looking to grow in 21st Century is SEO. This service has become so sought after as a consequence of it being able to help businesses sustain growth over long periods. For that reason, it might be wise to hire the best SEO services in Los Angeles.

“So many of the business practices that I use still in my company today were practices that I learned from my mom,” she says.

Growing up in Tarboro, North Carolina as one of 11 children, Howroyd says her parents taught her the benefits of being innovative with few resources. She attended segregated schools until the 11th grade and says she often learned from textbooks that were missing pages of information.

One time, as she complained about her lack of resources, she says her dad challenged her to continue to be better.

“He wouldn’t accept it,” she said. “He said, ‘You’re smart enough to figure out what’s missing.'”

Her mom took matters a step further, and told Howroyd that once she figured out the missing information, she needed to write it down, tape it in the book and leave it for the next person behind her.

“She taught us many of the principles of making lots from nothing,” she says. “And I think those things that she did and the way she worked with us really taught me so much about not only how to build my business, but how to sustain and innovate across the platforms that I work in today.”

Globalization vs. “glocalization”

In the beginning, ACT-1 Group was a full-time placement company based out of California. Now, 40 years later, the business has expanded to offer full-time and temporary job placement options to more than 17,000 clients in 19 countries, including the United States, Canada, Denmark, Brazil and the United Kingdom. The company has more than 2,800 employees.

According to Howroyd, ACT-1 Group provides services to its clients via a number of different platforms including its technology and management solutions company AgileOne, its staffing company AppleOne and its background checks and screening company A-Check.

“When you collect those organizations together, you’ve got the ACT-1 Group,” she says.

While the company started with just a fax machine and phone, Howroyd knew that in order to succeed she had to keep up with technology. In 1995, her company became one of the first staffing agencies on the World Wide Web with the launch of appleone.com. During this time period, her company also continued to see yearly revenue growth, due to the increased demand for tech workers.

Today, the company is one of the largest staffing firms in the world. Howroyd credits much of her success to tapping into the $429 billion global staffing market. In 1989, she opened up her first office outside of the United States in Ontario, Canada. She says the key to making her company a success was understanding the difference between globalization and “glocalization.”

“Globalization requires all of the regulatory, financial and infrastructure you need in order to expand the business across different geographies,” she says. “Glocalization is what happens at the local point, like understanding the immediate cultural needs and how to fit that under a much larger business initiative that a company may have hired you to achieve for them.”

Outside of expanding business operations beyond the U.S., Howroyd says that another key to her company’s success is making the applicant the center of attention when servicing its clients.

“When we’re working with companies to identify talent, that means that every person who’s looking for a job is the focus of our attention,” she says. “We’re acting as agents for them, if you will. That’s a bit different from what many companies in our industry have performed. It’s certainly been a dynamic piece for how I think we have been able to grow.”

As a mom of two, Howroyd says her family has also taken interest in making sure ACT-1 Group continues to be a success. Her son Brett is president of AppleOne, and her daughter Kay is in charge of the company’s online branding.

Keeping the millennial spirit alive

In addition to continuing to grow her staffing company, Howroyd also uses her entrepreneurial success to give back.

“There are wonderful side benefits to my gig, I’ll tell you, and one of the best was when I was asked to join the board of trustees for North Carolina A&T State University,” she says.

As an alumna of the school, Howroyd says it’s a surreal feeling to walk onto campus as a board member.

“I’m in a position to be able to come back and not just support the school financially, but to be integral to how the school continues to meet its initiatives and to offer to those wonderful students opportunities and careers that the school offered me,” she says.

Aside from giving back to her former college, Howroyd sits on Harvard’s Women Leadership board and the board of USC’s Marshall School of Business. In May 2016, she was appointed by then President Barack Obama to serve as a member of his board of advisors on Historically Black Colleges and Universities.

“Perhaps that’s why I keep my millennial spirit alive,” she explains. “It’s the work I do on campuses that gives me such witness to the tremendous talent that we have in this world today and the desires of students who are working not just to get degrees and go out and earn money, [but who] are working to express themselves in ways that will allow them to fulfill things they care about.”

Her mantra for success is something she says many young people can also live by as they grapple with making the right decisions in their career.

“I’ve had many opportunities over the growth of my business to make decisions, that while they would not have been illegal, they would not have been constant with who I am and how I like to practice business,” she says. “And [those opportunities], candidly speaking, could have fueled the business a little faster financially. But, I always had to go back to how I opened my doors, and I opened my doors with a commitment to myself that I would never compromise my personal self for my professional self — so, that continues to be my mantra.”

Source: CNBC

Black Owned Nutritional Supplements Company Vows To Help Black Communities Live Healthier

3 mins read
nutritional supplements

Naturade is a manufacturer and marketer of nutritional supplements.  The company was originally founded in 1926, and was acquired by Kareem Cook and Claude Tellis in 2012.

nutritional supplements
Kareem Cook and Claude Tellis

The duo first meet in college at Duke University and later reconnected after attending business school. They made the move to California together and began spreading healthy ideas across the area.

Growing up on the east coast both Kareem and Claude believed that everyone on the west coast, and California in particular were extremely healthy and fit.

They were shocked to see first hand the rate of childhood obesity in the Los Angeles area. They decided to help reduce that number. This is where their journey to spread health and wellness began.

They started a healthy vending company in LA. and were responsible for getting junk food banned in LA schools. They even convinced the whole the state of California to ban junk foods.

nutritional supplements

The pair put the first healthy vending machine in LA and acquired the contract for all of the public schools in Los Angeles.

While banning junk foods in schools across LA is a large accomplishment the men were unsatisfied. They wanted a larger platform to help African Americans prevent common illnesses that plague the community.Both Kareem and Claude’s families and many African Americans across the country suffer from hypertension and diabetes, illnesses that can be prevented or managed largely based on diet.

This passion lead them to develop a business plan to prevent illnesses like diabetes. Their plan involved the purchase of Naturade.

Once Kareem and Claude purchased Naturade, their efforts to educate the African American community on the benefits of a healthy lifestyle began in earnest.

They were introduced to people who shared similar viewpoints, including John Lewis. Kareem and Claude paired up with John Lewis to create VeganSmart, a plant based protein powder.

John Lewis, Vegan Smart

The pair has made strides to spread health and wellness among the African American community, as well as americans across the country.

Kareem Cook and Claude Tellis plan to continue sharing their passion for living healthy plant-based lifestyles with the African American community.

 

Learn more about Naturade on their website.

 

 

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Tarana Burke on the TIME 100 Most Influential People 2018 Cover

2 mins read
tarana burke

TIME just announced their list of the 100 Most Influential People in the world, and MeToo founder, Tarana Burke is one of them.

Tarana started the “Me Too” movement in 2006 and it has since blossomed into a world-wide campaign to raise awareness about sexual harassment, abuse, and assault in society.

In this issue of TIME, actress Gabrielle Union wrote about Tarana, saying,

“When I first met Tarana Burke, I found a kindred spirit, somebody else who’s been screaming into the hurricane. Somebody else who’s been advocating for survivors of rape and sexual assault, and specifically young black women, whose voices have been silenced at best and completely erased from the national dialogue at worst.

She was kind enough to film a guest spot for the upcoming finale of Being Mary Jane. Between takes, it was both of us talking and strategizing, venting and celebrating. You want a leader who truly believes in inclusivity. For Tarana, it’s not about personal gain or attention but doing the work in a way that makes people feel like they can join in.

When you’ve been sidelined for so long, it’s exhilarating to know that such a powerful voice is finally breaking through. Tarana will continue to do this work, but the stage will be bigger and the microphone turned all the way up. She will inspire legislation and new crops of voters.

She will sway old voters. She will open eyes. She’s not even going to bring more seats to the table—she’s going to turn the table over and build a new one.”

TIME describes their annual list of the world’s most influential people as “a designation of individuals whose time, in our estimation, is now.”

Tarana’s time is definitely now 🙂

 

-Tony Oluwatoyin Lawson (IG @thebusyafrican)

 

 

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SoLo Raises $1.2 million to Take on the Peer-to-Peer Lending Industry

11 mins read
SoLo

Peer-to-peer (P2P) lending is disrupting the financial industry via online platforms that provide individuals and businesses with more innovative lending and borrowing options.

Options like SoLo, a mobile peer-to-peer lending exchange that provides affordable access to low-value funds. We spoke with CEO/Co-founder, Travis Holoway to find out more about the company and its plans.

What inspired you to create SoLo?

We started this company because when we looked around our community we were disgusted by the lack of financial resources available to those who look like us. The purpose of SoLo is to combat what we feel are two of the biggest problems currently plaguing minority communities; affordable access to capital and financial literacy.

Every day more people in inner cities are being lured into debt traps from payday and title lending institutions. Since we don’t teach financial literacy in schools, people are learning their financial lessons by making mistakes which are some of the most expensive mistakes they will ever make.

Furthermore, our most noble but vulnerable citizens like single mothers, teachers, and active duty military are being taken advantage of the most. It’s promising to see that awareness is increasing in regard to the predatory payday-lending industry, but there has been no real solution until now. We intimately understand this problem because we’ve lived it, so it’s our belief that we are uniquely qualified and positioned to solve it.

What differentiates your company from the other P2P lending platforms?

We believe that there is a misconception about what peer-to-peer lending really is. The biggest names in the industry are financial institutions that make all the financial decisions once they get money from lenders. These institutions take money from Mike and decide if Tom is an eligible borrower.

Mike has no control over how his money gets disbursed. SoLo is peer-to-peer lending in the purest form ever. We allow Mike to decide exactly who his money goes to. Other P2P platforms are solely focused on loans between $1k-40k. These alternative loans are great for some people, but not the average American.

78% of American workers are currently living paycheck to paycheck which means the majority of people are one surprise away from financial hardship. These people don’t need a $15k loan, they need $400 to get their car fixed or $100 to pay a utility bill to keep the lights on. The average payday loan borrower takes 8 loans at $375 a year. These are the people who need access to more affordable loan resources and our predecessors haven’t focused on that group, we’re here to change that.

Why would it benefit someone to borrow using SoLo as opposed to a traditional financial institution?

Traditional financial institutions are not even an option. You can’t walk into any traditional bank and obtain a loan for $75 because they don’t lend small dollar amounts.

Resources for loans under $1,000 are extremely limited which is why the payday lending industry has been able to capitalize off of our country’s most noble but vulnerable citizens.

Payday lending institutions charge 400% interest rates. At SoLo borrowers set their own terms. There are no imposed or mandatory interest rates on our platform. We are the most affordable lending option available in this country.

What measures do you have in place to protect investors who lend on the platform?

When the lender and borrower agree to terms a digital promissory note is created which states that the borrower has agreed to accept a loan from the lender and will pay back the debt. On the agreed upon repayment date, we do all the work.

The lender does not have to remind the borrower about the outstanding debt and the borrower doesn’t have to remember to repay the debt. We automatically draft the funds from the borrower’s account and return them to the lender. In the rare case that there are insufficient funds in a bank account, we will attempt to draft again at a future date. If we are unsuccessful in drafting the funds, the debt becomes eligible for collections.

The lender has the option of whether or not to send the debt to collections. If sent to collections our third-party collections provider will work diligently to recover the debt and return the funds to the lender.

What are some obstacles or challenges that you foresee and how do you plan to overcome them?

For technology companies, marketing to minority communities has proven to be challenging. With the exception of social media platforms, non-college educated minorities are often late adopters of new technology. I can recall a trip to the barbershop a few months ago when nobody in the shop had ever heard of AirBnB.

It was shocking to realize that a company that I deemed to be a “Household Name” could be virtually non-existent in the neighborhood where I grew up in. Although Airbnb is one of the most disruptive companies in the last 20 years, but it had no brand recognition in my community. It was at that point that I realized we would have to aggressively market to our target demographics.

To think that people will hear about us solely because we are scaling would be irresponsible. Historically, minority communities are skeptical of financial institutions and because of that trust must be built. It’s imperative to build an organic word-of-mouth referral culture amongst our users. I believe we will overcome this challenge if we remain transparent and cherish the trust we build with our users.

Where do you see the company in 5 years?

Ultimately, we see SoLo evolving into a data company. The information that we have about the underbanked population is valuable and extremely insightful because this demographic has been elusive to traditional financial institutions.

The majority of Americans have subprime credit scores and are not eligible for traditional credit because they don’t meet the stringent criteria of banks. With that said, banks will need alternative data in the future in order to make intelligent credit decisions, and we’ll have the data they need.

SoLo CEO, Travis Holoway

At what point will you consider the company a success?

I already see the company as a success. I know that sounds strange from a company in its infancy that isn’t even cash flow positive yet, but the day we launched and processed our very first loan I felt like a boulder had been lifted off of the back of that borrower. Every loan fulfilled on our platform means that’s one more loan that wasn’t taken from a predatory payday lending institution.

I’ve already received many testimonials from people who simply appreciate the fact that we exist and understand their plight. Knowing that a child had food on the table because of what we created is a win every time.

Having a positive social impact was the goal from day one so in my eyes we’ve already found success, now it’s just a matter of how many more people we can be a resource to.

What advice do you have for aspiring entrepreneurs?

You have to be all-in because it won’t work if you have one foot in and one foot out. I tried that, and it didn’t work. I used to work on the idea whenever I got extra time and I would get excited about things that didn’t matter, like a new pitch deck. That created a false sense of security because while pitch decks are important, I wasn’t truly making any tangible progress on the vision.

You learn by doing. Trust that you will find solutions to problems as they arise. Move fast because if you’re cautiously pressing the brakes, just know that someone else in the world is aggressively pressing the gas and they will beat you to the destination.

Ideas don’t come to just one person, they come to many, but few people ever see them through. Running a company is indeed a marathon and not a sprint, but marathons still have winners and losers. Be a winner.

Check out a previous interview with SoLo Co-Founder Rodney Williams – LISNR: The Black Owned Business that Raised over $10 Million and is Disrupting the Mobile Technology Industry

by Tony O. Lawson

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Black Owned Coffee and Tea Businesses That are Great Alternatives to Starbucks

7 mins read
black owned coffee and tea

In 2018, a Philadelphia Starbucks employee called the police on two Black patrons. Their crime? Waiting for a friend. The cops still arrested them.

More recently, Starbucks sent an internal memo to its employees banning them from wearing accessories or clothing that shows support for the Black Lives Matter movement.

BuzzFeed News obtained the memo, which reminded staffers of the company’s accessories policy that forbids accessories that “advocated a political, religious or personal issue.” A number of employees told the outlet that the company commonly permits and even advocates that employees don pro-LGBTQ+ pins, particularly during Pride Month in June.

When next you feel the need for some Starbucks, you may want to consider these Black Owned Coffee and Tea Businesses instead.

Black Owned Coffee and Tea Businesses

South LA Cafe (Los Angeles, CA) provides coffee, tea, and healthy and affordable food options to the South LA community.

Northwest Coffee Roasting Company (Clayton, MO) is an artisan coffee roaster that embodies the legacy of coffee by unifying communities, stimulating dialogue, and providing hand roasted and brewed full city coffee.

Teatopia (St Louis, MO) offers 70 different teas as well as other small food items that will leave you amazed and wanting more.

TeaLee’s Tea House & Bookstore (Denver, CO) provides high-quality loose leaf teas, food, and specialty drinks, including beer and wine in an afro-centric atmosphere.

Uncle Bobbie’s Coffee & Books (Philadelphia, PA) is a cool coffee shop and bookstore that also hosts live events like book signings and movie screenings.

Sip & Savor (Chicago, IL) offers the finest certified fair trade coffee from around the world, as well as a wide selection of teas, mochas, lattes, and blended drinks. They also serve delicious pastries and small bites from local bakeries.

Black Swan Espresso (Newark, NJ) is Newark’s first Specialty Coffee and Tea Shop. They specialize in using the highest quality international coffee beans in all their roasts.

Red Bay Coffee (Oakland, CA) is building a global community through our commitment to sourcing, developing, roasting, and delivering the best and most beautiful coffee to the people.

Upper Cup Coffee Co. (Columbus, OH) offers house-roasted espressos & creative pours are the focus of this brick-walled cafe with sandwiches.

Whittier Cafe (Denver, CO) is an artsy coffee shop with a lending library & a cozy patio serving espresso-based drinks & cafe fare.

Black Owned Coffee and Tea Businesses

Sankofa Video Books & Cafe (Washington, DC) is a relaxed coffeehouse offering light cafe bites plus African-focused books & film screenings.

Cuples Tea House (Baltimore, MD) is a family-owned and operated tea business offering featuring premium loose leaf teas, tea accessories, and culture in a socially connected atmosphere.

Kaffeine Coffee Internet & Office Cafe (Houston, TX) is a relaxed, funky cafe featuring coffee, sandwiches & baked goods, plus Wi-Fi & printing services.

Not So Urban Coffee & Roastery (Oxford, GA) is a small batch micro roaster specializing in responsibly, ethically & sustainably sourced coffee from Africa, South/Central America, and Asia.

Golden Thyme Coffee & Cafe (St Paul, MN) is an easygoing place with a warm vibe offering a variety of coffee blends named after your favorite jazz artists, bagels, cakes, and many other delightful treats.

More Than Java Cafe’ (Laurel, MD) is a vibrant outpost featuring classic cafe dishes, espresso drinks & ice cream, plus live music nights.

Amalgam Comics & Coffeehouse (Philadelphia, PA) is a comic book store and coffee shop hybrid that offers everything from comics, toys, games, and figurines, to coffee & espresso related beverages, and baked goods.

Ain’t She Sweet Cafe (Chicago, IL) is a casual, cozy eatery offering counter-serve sandwiches, smoothies & house-baked desserts.

Cafe Dejena (Oakland, CA) is a local Eritrean café that offers dine-in meals all day, grab & go for those on the run, and catering for small events.

Beyu Caffe (Durham, NC) is an upbeat, bohemian hangout offering coffee, all-day American fare, a full bar, live jazz & free WiFi.

Boon Boona Coffee (Seattle, WA) sources the finest coffee, from the birthplace of coffee, East Africa.

DC Conscious Cafe (Washington, DC) is “more than a cafe”. They offer good food, dialogue, entertainment, civic engagement, and advocacy for the good of our community.

Rise and Grind Café (Milwaukee, WI) offers hot and cold sandwiches, soups, breakfast items. They also offer catering and meal planning services.

Calabash Teahouse & Cafe (Washington, DC) is a popular teahouse ready to help you with foods & teas for dynamic living.

Urban Grind Coffee House (Atlanta, GA) is a hip coffeehouse with cafe menu & free WiFi holds film screenings, poetry slams & other arty events.

Just Add Honey Tea Company (Atlanta, GA) is a sophisticated twist on a southern tea tradition we offer thoughtfully blended loose leaf teas made in small batches to ensure the perfect cup cheers!

Tsion Cafe & Bakery (NY) is a petite, stylish cafe featuring contemporary Ethiopian cuisine in a warm space with patio seating.

Culture Coffee Too (Washington, DC) is a coffee shop, art gallery, live performance venue, and event space, with a mission to bring delicious coffee, and diverse culture to the Washington, DC community.

 

-Tony O. Lawson

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Shaq Partners With Black Owned Real Estate Development Firm to Build $79M Apartment Tower in N.J.

3 mins read
Black owned real estate development firm

Shaquille O’Neal is partnering with a Black owned real estate development firm to build a 22-story apartment complex that will hover over the city’s downtown as its first high-rise in more than 50 years.

Black owned real estate development firm

“I remember when I was growing up (the city) used to be beautiful like this so the older I get, I want it to be a little more beautiful,” O’Neal told NJ Advance Media. “I invest in things that are going to make a difference.”

On Tuesday, O’Neal, a Newark native, was joined by Gov. Phil Murphy, Lt. Gov. Sheila Oliver and Mayor Ras Baraka to mark a milestone in the building’s construction.

“Yet another piece of evidence that this city is on the rise, let there be no doubt about it,” Murphy said. “This is a city that has got a trajectory that is undeniable … as our big urban centers go, first and foremost as Newark goes, so goes the state of New Jersey.”

Black owned real estate development firm

The $79 million luxury apartments, developed by Boraei Development and O’Neal, are steps from the New Jersey Performing Arts Center and the renovated Hahne & Co. building that includes a Whole Foods and the newest restaurant by celebrity chef Marcus Samuelsson.

The 168 apartments at 1 Rector Street will open by the end of the year with residents able to apply for a lease as soon as September, Wasseem Boraie told NJ Advance Media. He said the company bought the property — which used to house the old Science Park High School10 years ago — but construction didn’t begin until last October.

Wasseem Boraie, executive vice president of Boraie Development

“We were waiting for the right time,” Boraie said, citing new businesses in the area. “We all then build up around the supply.”

O’Neal also announced a new $150 million, 350-unit apartment complex with Boraie (whom he called “the Kobe Bryant of development”). The 35-story building on 777 McCarter Highway will be known as the “House that Shaq Built,” O’Neal said.

“I was born and raised here, I love this city,” O’Neal said during a press conference after struggling to lift the microphones at the podium to his height.

O’Neal recalled a 1992 visit to Newark to see his relatives. “My mother says to me, ‘I remember when this city used to be beautiful, somebody needs to come back and invest in this city and make it beautiful again,’ then she gave me the elbow to the chest like I’m that somebody,” he said.

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