Actress Jackee Harry From ‘227’ and ‘Sister, Sister’ Comes Out In Support Of Reparations Specifically For ADOS
by moguldom

September 21, 2020

Actress Jackee Harry From ‘227’ and ‘Sister, Sister’ Comes Out In Support Of Reparations Specifically For ADOS

Actress Jackee Harry of “227” and “Sister, Sister” fame is using her star power to advocate for reparations for Black Americans.

“I believe that the window this time for, I call it guilt-money, and by that I mean specifically, if they want to make some changes … in systemic racism in the United States of America, we have to get the money towards the programs that get us some money too,” Harry said. “They gon’ have to roll out some dough, some trillions and give these kids some opportunities.”

Harry made the comments during an episode of Vivica Fox’s podcast. Initially, she included “people of color, Black people and Asian people” in her comments about who should get reparations.

After getting some feedback from many members of American Descendants of Slavery (ADOS), Harry clarified she is supporting reparations for Black Americans descended from slaves specifically, but also supports mitigating poverty for disadvantaged groups in general.

“Seems I upset a few people with the language used here, so let me clarify: I support reparations for ADOS. Separately, I support a fix to the failure that was The War on Poverty. I believe both are needed to better address systemic racism in this country.” Harry wrote.

With “Sister, Sister” now available on Netflix to stream, Harry is experiencing a resurgence in her popularity. She thanked fans for supporting the show almost three decades after it first aired.


“So honored that our little old show is getting as much love today as it did 26 years ago when it premiered. We’re in the top 3! Thanks to everyone watching #SisterSister on Netflix!” Harry tweeted.

ADOS has been passionately pushing a reparations agenda and is garnering more and more support for its movement.

By adding her voice to the call, Harry joins other high-profile Black people like hip-hop artists Ice Cube, Killer Mike, Boosie and T.I., billionaire VC Robert F. Smith and BET Co-Founder Bob Johnson in calling for reparations for Black Americans.

This article was originally written by Isheka N. Harrison for The Moguldom Nation.

 

by moguldom

September 15, 2020

Ice Cube: U.S. Printed $3T Without Any Inflation, Government And Banks Are Colluding Against The Poor

Hip-hop legend Ice Cube has never been one to bite his tongue – and lately he’s been using his voice to rally against the government’s economic practices. Cube said the government is colluding with banks to keep people in poverty.

“America is a currency creator so there’s no reason for people to live like this. Government and the banks have made a deal to keep the people in debt. They always say if you print money it will cause inflation. They just printed 3 trillion. Little or no inflation,” Ice Cube tweeted Thursday, Sept. 3.

The tweet included a meme that showed printed money accompanied by the caption “We live in a country that creates its own money, yet still can’t afford to feed the homeless to fund education.”

It received thousands of likes and retweets. Many of Cube’s followers weighed in with their agreement.

“11 people control 1 trillion dollars..the inequality is sick,” tweeted one user. “Blame the Federal Reserve! They want to create debt and poverty, so they enslave your with debt!” tweeted another.

“You should definitely dig into how that works. You will be mindf**ked. The dollar was backed by gold at one point but the fed at one point printed more money then had gold bringing the value of the dollar down. The solution to bring the value back up? Have it backed by petroleum,” one user identified as Eduardo Flores wrote in response.


The message is just one in a series of others from Cube (born O’Shea Jackson) as the November presidential election approaches. He has criticized both major political parties for not caring about Black people.

Never hesitant to cape for his people, Cube told Black people not to vote just for the sake of voting in a video uploaded to Twitter Tuesday.

“I just want to be straight up because there’s a lot of messages going out about this election,” Cube said. “Be skeptical of anybody telling you to vote and not telling you ask for anything. … That’s not how it works. … You don’t vote just to vote. You vote because you’re getting something or your community is getting something.”

He is also calling for “A Contract with Black America,” which urges the country’s leadership to take the steps necessary to finally make America live up to being a “more perfect union.”

On it’s website, it states “This Contract with Black America is a patriotic pathway to promote our shared prosperity and achieve racial economic justice.”

This article was originally published by The Moguldom Nation.

Former Facebook Manager Attacks Black America: Obama was President So Stop The Victim Mentality, Says No To Reparations
by moguldom

August 5, 2020

Former Facebook Manager Attacks Black America: Obama was President So Stop The Victim Mentality, Says No To Reparations

A former Facebook manager posted a video on his YouTube channel blasting Black America, the George Floyd protesters and the call for reparations.

His name is Patrick Shyu, and according to his LinkedIn page, he was the tech lead for Facebook from 2018 to 2019. He was also tech lead at Google from 2014 to 2018 and prior to that, launched an apps and games company called Avalancia.com. Shyu claims he was fired from Facebook according to his channel, TechLead Show, which claims to have 30,000 followers.


“This isn’t about equality…people want privilege and you just start playing the victim and blaming other people,” he rants.

“You take on the victim mentality and start saying the world owes me something,” he continues before insisting that there have been other races in the U.S. who have suffered just as much, or if not more, than Black people.

“Black people have it pretty good,” he insists. “We had a Black president, in the NBA it’s all Black people, have these blockbuster movies like ‘Black Panther’ with an all-Black cast…”

He goes on to ask, where are the Asians, Native Americans, the Italians and why aren’t they dominating such fields as music, sports, film, like Black people?

When it comes to reparations, he remarks that “the Japanese were war prisoners” so they had it worse than Black people who were slaves.

He adds of slavery, “That was the past, let it be…now we want our children to pay for that.”

Mojola Balogun (@moebee2) posted Shyu’s video on Twitter and said, “This is a former Google and Facebook software engineering manager. These are his views on BLM and racism in the US. At top tech companies, Black people consistently make up less than 3 percent of engineers. Why is diversity and Black retention so low? Because these are our managers.”

Of course, Balogun’s tweet caught a lot of people’s attention.

JamesHRH (@jameshrh) responded, “This PoV is simplistic & quite common among highly analytical, engineering types. Bounded inputs. But your argument about cause is, frankly, just wrong. SV is 3 percent Black bc Black students are 4 percent of engineering graduates: https://ncses.nsf.gov/pubs/nsf19304/digest/field-of-degree-minorities That’s where you start the fix.”

Kristine (Sato) Phillips (@ksato_phillips) tweeted, “#Facebook is comprised of managers just like him. They also come in white female form as well. I wrked there in HR for 3 yrs & was racially discriminated & harassed to the point where I had to file a workers comp claim & now have chronic #PTSD. FB only has 1.5 percent in tech roles”

This article was originally written by Ann Brown for The Moguldom Nation.

by moguldom

July 27, 2020

Majority Of NFL 1st-Round Picks Have Black Agents For The 1st Time

History was made at this year’s NFL draft, but it wasn’t because of the athletes. For the first time ever, more than half the players selected in the first round were represented by Black agents, The Washington Post reported.

Of the 32 players drafted in April, 17 were represented by Black agents. The phenomenal moment was first noted by NFL agent Nicole Lynn, who made her own stamp on history last year as the first Black woman to represent a top-five pick, New York Jets defensive lineman Quinnen Williams.


She and 10 of her colleagues – including David Mulugheta, Damarius Bilbo, Tory Dandy, Jovan Barnes and others – are all taking part in helping change the face of respected NFL agents.

Mostly 40 and under, they credit the late Eugene Parker – whom they acknowledge as the “godfather” of Black agents – with paving the way for them.

“Eugene set the tone for all black agents,” Lynn told the Post.

“It’s about representation,” echoed Mulugheta, who had four clients det drafted this year. “… Seeing him told a lot of people that you don’t need to be an athlete to stay involved in sports. Growing up, I never saw a black agent, so that wasn’t something I saw as possible, but once I was leaving college, that’s when I found out about Eugene Parker.”

Despite this historic accomplishment, Black agents still face hurdles getting white clients.

“From my research, out of all the top black agents — David, Tory, myself, Chafie [Fields], Bilbo — not any of us have a single white player. I’m not talking about having a few white players. I’m saying not one. And between all of us, we’re talking about more than 150 players,” Lynn said.

It is an obstacle they all hope to overcome – wanting to be judged by their skillset, not race.

“Yes, I can relate to your son on multiple levels, but I don’t go in saying, ‘Pick me because I’m black,’ ” Dandy said. “Choose me because I’m the best to do the job. I’m well educated, well prepared, and I’ve been doing this long enough, so choose me because of my track record and body of work.”

Barnes in essence took up the family business as his father was Parker’s former partner. He said if the draft had taken place in person as it typically does, the melanin in the room among agents would have been more noticeable.

“Everybody would’ve seen it because it would’ve been nothing but us in there,” Barnes said.

This article was originally by written by Isheka N. Harrison for The Moguldom Nation.

Lawyer: Black Hollywood Needs To Hire Black Agents And Lawyers Before Crying About Inequality
by moguldom

July 20, 2020

Lawyer: Black Hollywood Needs To Hire Black Agents And Lawyers Before Crying About Inequality

Back in 2018, Hollywood lawyer Jaia Thomas was excited — as were hordes of fans — when “Black Panther” hit the big screen. After all, it was a movie of totally Black talent. Thomas didn’t realize at the time that the Blackness stopped at the talent. The actors were almost entirely represented by white teams.

“A few weeks after the film’s release, I spent some time researching the names of the attorneys, agents, managers and publicists who represented the cast. Chadwick Boseman’s lawyer? White. Michael B. Jordan’s publicist? White,” Thomas wrote in Hollywood Reporter. “The thrill of watching such breathtaking production faded against the irony of Black actors discussing ‘Wakanda forever’ with almost all-white teams.”

An entertainment attorney who has been practicing law for 14 years, Thomas looked for a solution to provide Black representation in Hollywood. She launched Diverse Representation — a website with the names of Black agents, attorneys, managers, and publicists across the country — using her own resources and money.


Now is the time for agencies and firms to start asking why they have such limited Black leadership, Thomas wrote.

“Are they creating pathways for higher recruitment and retention of Black employees? They must create strategic long-term partnerships with colleges and universities to recruit a more diverse slate of candidates and make their hiring process more open and transparent.”

Thomas feels the onus is on Black talent to demand more representation by Black people in the industry. Once they start demanding this, the industry will be forced to respond, she wrote. She stressed the need for many more Black-owned talent agencies, management companies, and law firms.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has been making some improvements  — albeit slowly — since the debut of the hashtag #OscarsSoWhite in 2014 when people went online to complain about how few Black people and people of color received awards and were on the Oscars voting boar.

The Academy recently announced a new initiative to expand Black representation in the filmmaking industry, NPR reported. Called “Academy Aperture 2025,” the initiative includes a plan to require Oscar nominees to meet certain standards for representation.

“While the Academy has made strides, we know there is much more work to be done in order to ensure equitable opportunities across the board,” Academy CEO Dawn Hudson said in a statement. “The need to address this issue is urgent. To that end, we will amend — and continue to examine — our rules and procedures to ensure that all voices are heard and celebrated.”

The Academy says it’s creating a task force of film industry leaders “to develop and implement new representation and inclusion standards for Oscars eligibility by July 31.”

A year after the Oscars So White hashtag in 2014, the Academy attempted to broaden its voting membership, inviting over 300 new members with A2020.

“In the more than 90 years of the Oscars, no Black director has ever won the Best Director award, no Black women have been nominated in that category, and only two films by Black directors have been awarded Best Picture: Steve McQueen’s ‘12 Years a Slave’ and Barry Jenkins’ ‘Moonlight,’” Yahoo reported.

Last week, the Academy reported that a record number of women and people of color were elected to its board of governors, including Whoopi Goldberg and Ava DuVernay. This means the Academy now has 26 women and 12 Black people or people of color on its 54-person board of governors, Vanity Fair reported. This is a first for the organization.

DuVernay was snubbed for a best-director Oscar five years ago. All Academy governors, branch executive committee members and Academy staff will be required to attend unconscious bias training.

“To truly meet this moment, we must recognize how much more needs to be done, and we must listen, learn, embrace the challenge, and hold ourselves and our community accountable,” Academy President David Rubin told NPR.

This article was originally written by Ann Brown for The Moguldom Nation.

by moguldom

July 13, 2020

Prof. Marc Lamont Hill Claims In Debate That Men Can Get Pregnant

Wait. What. Whoa. Did Prof. Marc Lamont Hill just claim that men can get pregnant? Yes. To be specific, he said on conservative pundit Candace Owens’ online talk show that transgender men can indeed get pregnant.

Owens asked him on “The Candace Owens Show” if men can give birth, and Hill replied: “Sometimes. That’s my answer, yes.” Owens then asked, “Can men get their period?” To which Hill said, “Some can. If you’re a trans-man. Some trans-men can.”


The two, who are on opposite sides of the political landscape, were discussing the trans movement along with Black Lives Matter and race relations in America, among other things.

Folks rushed to Twitter to respond:

ScoonTV @ScoonTv tweeted: “Marc Lamont Hill said men can give birth when asked by Candace Owens. Anybody following me who agrees with him please unfollow now. Oh what a web we weave. He answered that question as if his life was on the line.”

ScoonTV@ScoonTv tweeted, “Marc Lamont Hill said men can give birth when asked by Candace Owens. Anybody following me who agrees with him please unfollow now. Oh what a web we weave. He answered that question as if his life was on the line.”

TheHandsomeconservative @EddyGriffin tweeted, “The fact that people actually believe men can get pregnant is mindblowing I stand with Candice on this one & if you don’t also you’re delusional.”

But others sided with Hill.

mel @memegodmel tweeted, “it costs 0 dollars to not be transphobic. even if u don’t agree, it’s not like the logic is faulty. A FTM trans person can menstruate and they are still a man. whether you agree or not is on you, but u a grown ass man in 2020 acting like this is rocket science.”

Seems Hill is not exactly wrong. According to transgender men, they can sometimes give birth. Jay Thomas and his wife, Jamie Brewster, are both transgender. Thomas gave birth to the couple’s son Dorian, now 2, and they spoke with NBC News about the experience.

Thomas, a cook in Louisville, Kentucky, explained to his doctor that he and his wife, Jamie Brewster, 33, a bank employee, are both transgender. When Thomas, who was born a female but was now a transgender man, wanted to give birth to the couple’s children, his doctor thought it would be difficult as Thomas had been on hormones to increase testosterone for his gender transitioning process. But within three months of trying to conceive, Thomas was pregnant.

“One of the most persistent myths transgender men and nonbinary people hear from doctors is that testosterone has sterilized them, experts say. While testosterone generally blocks ovulation, trans men can get pregnant while taking it, particularly if they are not taking it regularly,” NBC News reported.

According to GLAAD, “Transgender is a term used to describe people whose gender identity differs from the sex they were assigned at birth…People in the transgender community may describe themselves using one (or more) of a wide variety of terms, including (but not limited to) transgender, transsexual, and non-binary. Always use the term used by the person.”

In order to more fully be aligned with the gender they most identify with, “most transgender people seek to bring their bodies into alignment with their gender identity. This is called transition.”

To transition, many transgender people are prescribed hormones by their doctors to physically change their bodies. Surgeries are an option as well. However, not all transgender people undergo physical gender transitioning.

Dr. Hill is an academic, author, activist, and TV personality. He is a professor of media studies and urban education at Temple University. He had been the host of the syndicated TV show “Our World with Black Enterprise,” the internet-based HuffPost Live, and BET News. He is also a former political commentator for CNN and Fox News. Hill was fired in 2018 from CNN after remarks before the U.N. on the Arab–Israeli conflict that were perceived as anti-Semitic. Hill has received numerous awards from the National Association of Black Journalists, GLAAD, and the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences.

Owens is a conservative commentator and a spokeswoman for Turning Point USA. She started Blexit, an effort to get Black voters to leave the Democratic Party. She previously co-founded the website Degree180, according to Politifact.

This article was written by Ann Brown for The Moguldom Nation.

Cop Challenges Anti-Cop Protesters To Fight, Backs Down After People ‘Pull Up’
by moguldom

July 6, 2020

Cop Challenges Anti-Cop Protesters To Fight, Backs Down After People ‘Pull Up’

A man claiming to be a cop, “peace officer, fitness trainer” posted a video on Tik Tok under the name @darksonofkrypton calling out the George Floyd protesters and challenging them to a fight.

“So I just watched another video of some clown with a camera running his mouth to an officer, I think it was in New York, and calling him a b**** and a punk and ‘take that badge and gun off and let’s fight,’” DarkSonOfKrypton said.

He continued, “A lot of you think we hide behind our badges and our guns…so how about we come up with a system…put your camera down and I’ll put down my badge and gun and let’s step into the ring.”

But when viewers asked for his location, DarkSonofKrypton changed his tone. He posted another video and stated, “I did not come out and challenge anybody. I definitely did not challenge Black people. I did not challenge Black Lives Matter. I did not challenge Antifa.”


Twitter exploded with responses. Some were pro DarkSonofKrypton, who has 161,900 followers on Tik Tok. Live Free @LiveFre72514184 tweeted, “Awesome. Let’s see how many of these tough guys want to step up to this challenge!”

Listen to GHOGH with Jamarlin Martin | Episode 72: Jamarlin Martin Part 2. J. Edgar Hoover, the first director of the FBI, may not be around but his energy is present in new Black politics.FBI agents and informants were used to weaken Marcus Garvey, the Nation of Islam and the Black Panthers — in many cases for money and career advancement. How could this energy metastasize into the “New Blacks” politics in 2020? Jamarlin goes solo to discuss who is doing the trading and what is being traded to weaken the aggregate Black political position.

But others called out the “officer” on social media and said they could “pull up” and meet his challenge. As Brother Q @andraydomise tweeted, “This is 5’7″ talk. 99% of the bass came out the man’s voice when the internet told him to turn his location on.”

Eric @bothsidesuck tweeted, “·Dude added terms and conditions as soon as folks called him on his tough talk.”

This article was originally written by Ann Brown for The Moguldom Nation.

Virginia Pastor Arrested After Calling Cops On White ‘Mob’ Threatening To Kill Him
by moguldom

June 29, 2020

Virginia Pastor Arrested After Calling Cops On White ‘Mob’ Threatening To Kill Him

Virginia Pastor Leon McCray, 61, called the police for protection after being threatened by a white “mob” in front of property he owned and instead of arresting them, the police arrested McCray.

McCray said he was visiting an apartment property he owns in Edinburg when he saw a man and a woman who did not live there dragging a refrigerator to his dumpster, the pastor told his congregation. When he confronted them, they left and returned with three others. The five allegedly assaulted and threatened to kill the pastor.


According to McCray, the group surrounded, jostled, and threatened him, “telling me that my Black life and the Black Lives Matter stuff, they don’t give a darn about that stuff in this county, and they could care less and ‘We would kill you,’” The Washington Post reported.

McCray, in turn, pulled out his legally concealed handgun.

The group was “threatening my life,” he said during a sermon at his Lighthouse Church & Marketplace Ministries International.

“Being threatened and fearing for my life, I took and felt compelled to pull my concealed weapon — my legally concealed weapon — to save my life,” he told congregants in the June 7 sermon, The New York Post reported.

“This act, through the grace of God, saved my life,” the pastor insisted, saying it bought him time to dial 911.

When the police arrived, however, he said they “made a beeline” for him instead, arresting him even as the group continued making threats against him.

“The hate-crime assaulting criminals watched me being handcuffed and carted off like a dog while the deputies stood with them,” he told his congregants, saying he was charged with brandishing a weapon despite his Second Amendment rights.

“This was indeed the most humiliating, dehumanizing, demeaning and violating event of my life,” he said, calling it “a day that changed my life.”

“I felt, literally, like I had been lynched, without being killed,” he added.

The group also allegedly hurled racial slurs at the pastor, telling him, “We will kill you,” McCray told WHSV.

News of the incident did not sit well with social media users on Twitter. “How many more of these stories do we have to hear? How do people still think these are isolated events when almost every POC has a story like this?” Amy Arnold @a81arnold posted on Twitter.

Atraylle @atraylle tweeted: “We call the police and we the ones that get arrested, punched, tackled, or/and killed.”

And Eric Edlund @EdlundEric tweeted, “Fkn!!!! Ridiculous!!!! The Sheriff apology is meaningless. This is exactly why ppl kneel. This is why ppl want a complete overhaul of policing.”

McCray is a retired Alexandria and Baltimore real estate investor, and 24-year Air Force master sergeant with no criminal record who has never been arrested.

Deputies rushed to judgment in “disarming a Black male brandishing a gun against five white individuals, despite my Second Amendment right to defend myself against five attackers that tried to take my life,” he told The Washington Post.

Five days after the sermon, Shenandoah County Sheriff Timothy Carter announced that the charge against the pastor had been dropped. He also added that hate-crime charges were being filed against the alleged attackers.

Donny Salyers, 43, Dennis Salyers, 26, Farrah Salyers, 42, Amanda Salyers, 26, and Christopher Sharp, 57, all face charges for hate crimes and various degrees of assault, The New York Post reported.

Donny and Dennis Salyers are also charged with assault and battery.  Sharp and Amanda Salyers are charged with trespassing.

Two police supervisors involved were put on unpaid administrative leave during an investigation of the case.

“I have apologized to Mr. McCray,” Sheriff Carter said, conceding that the “charge of brandishing was certainly not appropriate.”

“Actually, as I told Mr. McCray, if I were faced with similar circumstances, I would have probably done the same thing,” the sheriff said of the pastor defending himself.

Two sheriff’s office supervisors have been placed on unpaid administrative leave over the incident, which occurred June 1, Carter said.

In a video posted on Facebook, the sheriff said, “I want the people of Shenandoah County to know that I and the sheriff’s office staff appreciate and care about the minority communities, and especially our black community, in Shenandoah County.”

McCray said his arrest “was totally unacceptable; it would not be acceptable if I was white, and I believe all you know it to be true.”

This article was written by Ann Brown for The Moguldom Nation.

Ice Cube Takes Off On U.S: Black America Should Be Exempt From Paying Taxes, Our Bill Is Already Paid
by moguldom

June 22, 2020

Ice Cube Takes Off On U.S: Black America Should Be Exempt From Paying Taxes, Our Bill Is Already Paid

For decades, many in the Black community have felt Black people should not pay taxes. Over the years, some have pushed the so-called “Black Tax Credit.” Some tried it. Of course, the IRS wasn’t in agreement. It was reported as a tax scam. But now hip-hop mogul Ice Cube, 50, wants the IRS to exempt Black people from paying taxes.

“THE HIGH COST OF RACISM: BLACKS in America should be exempt from paying any taxes for 462 years. This would help to start repairing the damage done to us by America. OUR BILL IS PAID BY NOW. No more”, Ice Cube tweeted.

In another tweet, he wrote, “We will ask for board seats, hefty shares of the company and you will pay a heavy-heavy fine for what you’ve done. Or we will ask the believers in justice. To not support your business for 40 days & 40 nights … WE DONT REALLY GIVE A F–K IF WE WE’RE BEING FAIR OR NOT. Hos-style is my style!”


Additionally, Cube shared a video of Michael O’Meara, the president of New York state’s group of Police Benevolent Associations. During a recent news conference, O’Meara said that the media, legislators, and others have been trying to “shame” police officers since Floyd died, and officers are being treated like “animals and thugs,” Atlanta Black Star reported.

Contradicting O’Meara’s claims, Cube added footage of officers assaulting people.

“YOUR TAX PAYER DOLLARS PAY FOR THIS TYPE OF TREATMENT,” he posted. “But the whistle blowers are the bad guys? How? Truth is anti-police?”

Cube has been very vocal on Twitter since George Floyd’s death on May 25 at the hands of Minnesota police. So upset was Cube that he recently opted out of an appearance on “Good Morning America” to promote his new music business comedy, “The High Note.”

He tweeted at 5:37 a.m. the morning of the interview, “I apologize to everyone expecting to see me on Good Morning America today. But after the events in Minnesota with George Floyd I’m in no mood to tell America, good morning.”

Speaking out against police brutality and racism isn’t new for Cube.

“Early records like ‘Straight Outta Compton’, ‘AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted’ and ‘The Predator’ are the sound of a man wrestling for control of the narrative about his own community,” NME reported.

Ice Cube started his acting career with the John Singleton breakthrough film, “Boyz n the Hood.”

“In the early work, it was important to try to convey a message in movies,” Cube told NME. “Then I got to a point where I felt, you know, my music is hardcore. I’m talking about a lot of shit that’s real depressing. People want to laugh, man!”

Cube started screenwriting with the1995 stoner hit comedy “Friday.” Sequels followed. Hollywood seemed to love Cube — and vice versa.  In fact, he is the “only actor to have at least five highly-successful movie franchises (‘Friday,’ ‘Barbershop,’ ‘Are We There Yet?,’ ‘Ride Along,’ and ‘21 Jump Street’),” Pride Publishing Group reported.

Cube said he started to lean towards comedies “because people want to escape when they go to the movies.”

In recent years, Cube has become best known as an actor in big-budget “popcorn comedies” such as “21 Jump Street” (2012), “Ride Along” (2014), and “Fist Fight”(2017), but he remained vocal about the issues that plague the Black community.

Prior to the death of Floyd, Ice Cube tweeted about the candidates in the upcoming presidential election. “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…#fuckyoupayme.”

That tweet was in response to Joe Biden’s comment on The Breakfast Club, when he told Charlamagne tha God, “if you have a problem figuring out whether you’re for me or Trump, then you ain’t Black.”

Following the tragic death of Floyd, Cube again turned to Twitter on May 28 to call out the police. He wrote: “How long will we go for Blue on Black Crime before we strike back???”

“Ice Cube continues to represent the best of the genius of hip-hop that transforms the world into a better place for (those) who cry out for freedom and justice,” said Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr., president of the National Newspaper Publishers Association, Pride Publishing reported.

 

This article was written by Ann Brown for The Moguldom Nation.

BET Co-Founder Bob Johnson Goes Full Reparations: Cut Black America A $14 Trillion Check Or Expect More Rebellions
by moguldom

June 17, 2020

BET Co-Founder Bob Johnson Goes Full Reparations: Cut Black America A $14 Trillion Check Or Expect More Rebellions

Robert L. Johnson, the co-founder of Black Entertainment Television (BET) and the RLJ Companies has just issued a statement on Black American reparations and a proposal.

Some may be surprised by the move. Johnson has been criticized in the past for not taking a more aggressive stance on issues that affect Black America.

When questioned in the past why BET wasn’t used for more activist and educational purposes, Johnson usually replied that it was an entertainment channel. In 2015, long after the network had been sold, Johnson told The Wrap, “BET was created to distribute entertainment content and the record companies made entertainment-related music videos. What people were seeing was the expression of talented artists from A to Z, that wanted to speak to their audience.”


When Johnson sold BET to Viacom in 2000 for $3 billion, it made him the country’s first Black billionaire. Many complained that BET should have stayed in “Black hands.”

So this new push for reparations is sure to change the perception of Johnson, who has unveiled this proposal while the U.S. is dealing with nationwide protests over the police murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

In his proposal, Johnson calls for the U.S. to pay $14 trillion to the Black descendants of the slave trade. This is not just for past sins, but to cause this country “to live up to what was once called American exceptionalism,” Johnson said a press release.

In his statement, Johnson says, “Is $14 trillion too much to ask for the atonement of 200-plus years of brutal slavery, de facto and de jure government-sponsored social and economic discrimination and the permanent emotional trauma inflicted upon Black Americans by being forced to believe in a hypocritical and unfulfilled pledge that ‘all men are created equal’?”

Johnson goes on to discuss the George Floyd slaying.

“The questions being asked today, in light of the alleged inexplicable murder of George Floyd, are how do we bring unity to this nation and how do we provide justice on behalf of Mr. Floyd and his family. The answer to the question of how we deliver justice for Mr. Floyd is straight forward. Demand that those being charged in this case be presented to a court of law and that the court render the appropriate verdict and punishment,” he said.

He continued, “That has been my answer to every tragic situation like this; and, regrettably it will be the answer when this happens again, as it most certainly will.

“Now, to the question of how to bring unity to the country. The sad fact of the matter is on the issue of racial unity, this country has never been united. In my opinion, the only way to unify this nation and achieve racial equality and harmony is for this country to implement full and total economic reparations in the form of direct cash payments, over the next 10 to 20 years, to every descendent of African-American slaves.”

When asked on CNBC’s Squawk Box about the protest, Johnson referred to the Kerner Commission — a presidential commission established by President Lyndon B. Johnson to investigate the causes of the 1967 race riots in Detroit and other parts of the U.S. and to provide recommendations for the future.

“The Kerner Commission Report concluded…We are moving toward two societies, Black and white. Separate and unequal,” Johnson said in the CNBC interview. “I think that is before us today because of the killing of George Floyd.

“But more than that it is part of pent up anger, frustration, bitterness that is being expressed by many African Americans who are out in the street protesting.

“I have decided it is time for this country to live and face up to the critical question that has plagued this nation since its founding. That is the need for full and complete reparations to African-American descendants of slaves who are still today living in a chasm of wealth and income inequality…that is driving this nation back to two societies — separate and unequal.”

He said that despite the conclusions of the Kerner Commissions, protests and riots around inequality have continued and will continue until reparations are issued.

CEOs of companies have an opportunity to help make reparations a reality, Johnson said.

He continued, “My request to the CEOs…now is the time to go big. Short answers to long, horrific questions about the stain of slavery are not going to solve the inequality problem. We need to focus on wealth creation and wealth generation and to do that we must bring the descendants of slaves into equality in this nation and that is what I propose.”

According to Johnson, it is not only America’s responsibility to address and help close the growing wealth gap between whites and Blacks, but also the responsibility of big business as well.

“The economic chasm of wealth and income inequality between Black and white America was, without question, derived from slavery and its aftermath. It is a visible stain on this nation’s economic and social mobility,” Johnson said in his proposal. “Reparations, in the form of monetary recompense for damages, is not new in this country or the world. It should be completely understood in a nation built on a foundation of capitalism that, no one should be deprived of the benefits of their labor without due process of law. Therefore, the purpose of reparations, as presented here, is to acknowledge to 40 million Black Americans, the descendants of slaves, that you are owed damages for the evil that was visited on your ancestors.”

This article was written by Ann Brown for The Moguldom Nation.