BBN June 2016 Issue

THE WHITE HOUSE STATEMENT FROM PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA AND FIRST LADY MICHELLE OBAMA ON THE PASSING OF MUHAMMAD ALI JUNE 4, 2016 Muhammad Ali was The Greatest. Period. If you just asked him, he’d tell you. He’d tell you he was the double greatest; that he’d “handcuffed lightning, thrown thunder into jail.”

But what made The Champ the greatest – what truly separated him from everyone else – is that everyone else would tell you pretty much the same thing.

Like everyone else on the planet, Michelle and I mourn his passing. But we’re also grateful to God for how fortunate we are to have known him, if just for a while; for how fortunate we all are that The Greatest chose to grace our time.

In my private study, just off the Oval Office, I keep a pair of his gloves on display, just under that iconic photograph of him – the young champ, just 22 years old, roaring like a lion over a fallen Sonny Liston. I was too young when it was taken to understand who he was – still Cassius Clay, already an Olympic Gold Medal winner, yet to set out on a spiritual journey that would lead him to his Muslim faith, exile him at the peak of his power, and set the stage for his return to greatness with a name as familiar to the downtrodden in the slums of Southeast Asia and the villages of Africa as it was to cheering crowds in Madison Square Garden.

“I am America,” he once declared. “I am the part you won’t recognize. But get used to me – black, confident, cocky; my name, not yours; my religion, not yours; my goals, my own. Get used to me.”

That’s the Ali I came to know as I came of age – not just as skilled a poet on the mic as he was a fighter in the ring, but a man who fought for what was right. A man who fought for us. He stood with King and Mandela; stood up when it was hard; spoke out when others wouldn’t. His fight outside the ring would cost him his title and his public standing. It would earn him enemies on the left and the right, make him reviled, and nearly send him to jail. But Ali stood his ground. And his victory helped us get used to the America we recognize today.

He wasn’t perfect, of course. For all his magic in the ring, he could be careless with his words, and full of contradictions as his faith evolved. But his wonderful, infectious, even innocent spirit ultimately won him more fans than foes – maybe because in him, we hoped to see something of ourselves. Later, as his physical powers ebbed, he became an even more powerful force for peace and reconciliation around the world. We saw a man who said he was so mean he’d make medicine sick reveal a soft spot, visiting children with illness and disability around the world, telling them they, too, could become the greatest. We watched a hero light a torch, and fight his greatest fight of all on the world stage once again; a battle against the disease that ravaged his body, but couldn’t take the spark from his eyes.

Muhammad Ali shook up the world. And the world is better for it. We are all better for it. Michelle and I send our deepest condolences to his family, and we pray that the greatest fighter of them all finally rests in peace.

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Publisher's Message MUHAMMED ALI: FLOAT LIKE A BUTTERFLY, STING LIKE A BEE ---- RUMBLE YOUNG MAN RUMBLE

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he epic and transformative life of Muhammad Ali has come to an end leaving a Legacy that befits a man whose many iconic mantras included “Float Like a Butterfly, Sting Like a Bee…Rumble Young Man…Rumble”.

While that slogan clearly describes Ali’s unique boxing skills and Pubisher/Chief Executive Officer willingness to engage his opponent in the ring, it also applies to how he injected himself into the cultural, social, economic and political arenas that evolved in the revolutionary decade known as the 60’s.

At a time when the struggle for human and civil rights was taking on the shape of what would prove to be a historic international movement, Cassius Clay, a young, brash, charismatic 18-year-old Olympic Champion, out of Louisville, Kentucky appeared on a stage occupied by the larger than life sized arbiters of Black “Change” Leadership – Malcom X - Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. – Nelson Mandela.

He would begin his assent to join them when, at the age of 22 the “Louisville Lip” won the world heavyweight championship in 1964 from Sonny Liston in a stunning upset as he “floated like a butterfly and stung like a bee” to take down his universally feared opponent.

Shortly after that bout, Cassius Clay continued to “shock the world”. He joined the Nation of Islam, became Muhammed Ali and embarked on a decades-long odyssey that would enable him, more than any other athlete in history, to transcend his sport, and conquer persecution to become a role model and hero to people around the world.

“Cassius Clay is a name that white people gave to my slave master. Now that I am free, that I don't belong anymore to anyone, that I'm not a slave anymore, I gave back their white name, and I chose a beautiful African one”.

He was a free “New Black Man” getting set for the “Rumble Young Man Rumble”

Earl “Skip” Cooper, II

Black Business News Group P.O. Box 43159 Los Angeles, CA 90043 USA 323-291-7819 Fax: 323-298-5064

www.blackbusinessnews.net PUBLISHER/EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Earl “Skip” Cooper, II

ASSOCIATE EDITORS Sarah Harris Dean L. Jones Steven Turner

ENTREPRENEUR EDITOR Kim Anthony

ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR Linda Ware

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CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Dean Jones Linda Ware Ralph D. Sutton Timothy Lester, Jr. Veronica Hendrix Giavanna Foster P. Yvette Thomas LaSandra Stratton

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STORY EDITORS Wanda Flagg Jennifer Marie Hamilton

PHOTOGRAPHY Ian Foxx Sabir Narishima Osei

CONTENT ADMINISTRATOR La Sandra Stratton

LAYOUT/TYPESETTING Lion Communications Copyright © 2016

by Black Business News All Rights Reserved.

The posting of stories, commentaries, reports, documents and links (embedded or otherwise) on this site does not in any way, shape or form, implied or otherwise, necessarily express or suggest endorsement or support of any of such posted material or parts therein. 

see Publisher's Message on page 32 3  June 2016  Black Business News  www.blackbbusinessnews.net  1-323-291-7819

About

ABOUT THE BLACK BUSINESS NEWS GROUP… The mission of The Black Business News is to inspire and inform public and private sector industry representatives on the importance of smart small business growth. As a versatile source of socioeconomic development activity news, the publications of the Black Business News Group impart current local, national and international industry and social trends and news affecting small businesses across the United States of America (USA), providing guides to greater access to financial capital, management efficiencies, business education, mentorship opportunities and social media networks. The goals of the Black Business News Group include: •

promoting USA-based black-owned business enterprises to a world wide audience.

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offering business growth enhancing information on education, exhibitioning, international trading, technology, industry trends, and more.

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cexploring major public and private sece tor contracting methods to educate s. black-owned and operated enterprises.

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providing an affirmative influence forr emerging entrepreneurs by sharing in-novative design and creative culturall content that exposes them to the history of black enterprises and urges them to participate in the USA’s future.

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advocating and promoting on behalf of black-owned businesses by promoting the need for expanding an economic foundation that supports an unfettered and self-sustained urban society with USA job creation and economic opportunity, where usiness enterprises. blacks work, live and operate viable business

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Annual Awards Dinner Black Business News Group Publications Black Business News Black Business News International Black Business News Travel Africa

Contents

Black Business News…June 2016 3

Publisher's Message

Government 8 Never Forget: We are Charleston 10 Innovation Winners Announcee

Entertainment 22 BBN Show Biz Buzz

60 64 66

Economy The State Trade and Export Promotion Program (STEP) Sway Vodka EBONY's New Owners Set Sights on Expansion Fairness for Black Travelers Chance the Rapper: Marketing Genius or No?

Editorials

74 82

30 Muhammad Ali: The Champion Who Never Sold Out

Community/Public Interest 86 First Lady Michelle Obama to Travel to Liberia and Morocco 87 First Lady Michelle Obama Initiates a SnapChat Account. Join in.

International 90 African Stock Exchanges 92 Preview of the 2016 Global Entrepreneur Summit in California 94 Partners of the 2016 Global Entrepreneurship Summit Announced

Columns 80 Take A Look!

105 Shopping Gallery 130 BBA Master Business B i Planner 36 Commander Janice G. Smith to 131 Resource Command a US Navy Destroyer Vault 37 Ursula Burns to Chair New Document 132 Books to Technology Company Consider...

38 9 Places You Can Learn How to Code (for Free) 40 U.S. DOT Approves Flights to Cuba Cities 41 Army Officer Wins Miss USA Beauty Pageant 42 America's top Africa diplomat bullish on the continent 52 Retiree Confidence on the Rise 23 54 Thinking Forward and the Gig

31

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Never Forget: We are Charleston

By Valerie Jarrett, Senior Advisor and Assistant to the President for Intergovernmental Affairs and Public Engagement

I

n times of tragedy, all too often fear prevails as hope fades and our hearts drown in sorrow. This is the cyclical trend of hopelessness brought on by our nation's epidemic of senseless gun violence. Each time one life is lost, we as a nation lose a piece of ourselves.

That tragic evening a year ago in Charleston at Mother Emanuel African Methodist Church was no

different. But instead of sorrow, the community responded to wicked violent murders with "amazing grace" as President Obama said at Rev. Clementa Pickney's funeral.

Let’s never forget those nine victims who welcomed a stranger into their church with open arms. Let’s never forget their families, resilience, courage, strength, faith, and love even toward the perpetrator.

Let’s never forget how our American community came together to support our brothers and sisters in Charleston. As a nation, we cried for their suffering, honored their lives, and as President Obama noted, challenged ourselves, even in the midst of our sadness, "To see where we've been blind." We came together to make clear how the Confederate flag has been a

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President Obama and Vice President Biden placed 49 white roses at a memorial for the 49 victims of a mass shooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando Thursday after meeting with the families of the victims, police and hospital workers. Photo: Saul Loeb, AFP/Getty Images

those lives lost, those injured, and those affected by this day. Please remember them in our thoughts, our prayers -- but also remember them with our actions. We cannot turn away from the fact that the worst mass shooting in our history took place just five days ago or that approximately 30,000 lives each year are cut short by gun violence in this country, and that countless more lives are forever changed through injuries or the loss of a loved one.

The vast majority of Americans and the majority of gun owners want to do something about this.

They too feel the fierce urgency of now -- understanding that it is not the time to give up the fight to end senseless gun violence.

"reminder of systematic oppression and racial subjugation." We were reminded of how gun violence inflicts a "unique mayhem" on our nation. The tragedy spotlighted how past injustices continue to shape our present actions. And the encouraging call of South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley to take down the Confederate flag from the state's capitol was part of an incredible moment of national unity.

Now, a year later, the mass shooting in Orlando last Sunday that was also fueled by hate painfully reminds us that our work

is far from done.

As the President noted, Reverend Pinckney understood that "justice grows out of recognition of ourselves in each other. That my liberty depends on you being free, too. That history can’t be a sword to justify injustice, or a shield against progress, but must be a manual for how to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past -- how to break the cycle.

A roadway toward a better world.

He knew that the path of grace involves an open mind -- but, more importantly, an open heart."

Let's never forget the legacy of

Valer Jarrett I still believe that we as a nation can find that amazing grace President Obama spoke about that day to do what we know to be right.  www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2016/06/17/ never-forget-we-are-charleston

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Government

President Obama Announces Winner of New Smart Manufacturing Innovation Institute and New Manufacturing Hub Competitions The Smart Manufacturing Innovation Institute, headquartered in Los Angeles, CA, brings over $140 million in public-private investment from leading universities and manufacturers to develop smart sensors for use in advanced manufacturing.

T

hroughout this week, the Obama Administration will be highlighting America’s capacity for creativity and invention and how our innovative progress over the last seven and a half years has helped continue to make our economy the strongest and most durable in the world.

As part of this effort, today, at the third-annual SelectUSA Summit in Washington, DC, before an audience of business leaders, economic development officials, and investors from around the world, President Obama will announce that the Smart Manufacturing Leadership Coalition (SMLC) will lead the new Smart Manufacturing Innovation Institute, in partnership with the Department of Energy. The winning coalition, headquartered in Los Angeles, California brings together a consortium of nearly 200 partners from across academia, industry, and non-profits—hailing from more than thirty states—to spur advances in smart sensors and digital process controls that can radically improve the efficiency of U.S. advanced manufacturing.

The Smart Manufacturing

Innovation Institute is the ninth manufacturing hub awarded by the Obama Administration. Today, the President also announced the launch of five new manufacturing hub competitions, which will invest nearly $800 million in combined federal and non-federal resources to support transformative manufacturing technologies from collaborative robotics to biofabrication of cells and tissues, to revolutionizing the ways materials can be reused and recycled. With the new competitions underway, the Administration is on track to meet the President’s goal of a National Network for Manufacturing Innovation (NNMI) of 15 institutes underway across the country before the end of his Administration.

After a decade of decline from 2000 to 2010, the U.S. manufacturing sector has added over 800,000 jobs since February 2010 and remains more competitive for jobs and investment today compared to recent decades.

And just last month, a new survey of CEOs from around the world declared the United States the most attractive country for investment for the fourth year in a row.

Announcing New Manufacturing Innovation Institute Award and Competitions The Smart Manufacturing Innovation Institute announced today, the ninth institute government-wide awarded to-

date, will focus on innovations like smart sensors that can dramatically reduce energy expenses in advanced manufacturing, making our manufacturing sector strong today and positioning the United States to lead the manufacturing of tomorrow, helping sustain the resurgence of U.S. manufacturing currently underway. The SMLC will bring together nearly 200 partners to launch the Smart Manufacturing Innovation Institute, focused on accelerating the development and adoption of advanced sensors, data analytics, and controls in

manufacturing, while reducing the cost of these technologies by half and radically improving the efficiency of U.S. advanced manufacturing.

In addition, the newly announced manufacturing innovation institute topics now under competition include: • Robotics in Manufacturing Environments Manufacturing Innovation Institute. In collaboration with the Department of Defense, the newest manufacturing institute will focus

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on building U.S. leadership in smart collaborative robotics, where advanced robots work alongside humans seamlessly, safely, and intuitively to do the heavy lifting on an assembly line or handle with precision, intricate or dangerous tasks.

People collaborating with robots has the potential to change a broad swath of manufacturing sectors, from defense and space to automotive and health, enabling the reliable and efficient production of high-quality, customized products.

• Advanced Tissue Biofabrication Manufacturing Innovation Institute.

In collaboration with the Department of Defense, the Institute will pioneer nextgeneration manufacturing techniques for repairing and replacing cells and tissues,

which may one day lead to the ability to manufacture new skin for soldiers scarred from combat or to produce life-saving organs for the too many Americans stuck on transplant waiting lists today.

The Institute will focus on solving the cross-cutting manufacturing challenges that stand in the way of producing new synthetic tissues and organs – such as improving the availability, reproducibility, accessibility, and

standardization of manufacturing materials, technologies, and processes to create tissue and organ products. We expect collaborations across multiple disciplines; from 3D bio-printing, cell science, and process design, automated pharmaceutical screening methods to the supply chain expertise needed to rapidly produce and transport these livesaving materials.

• Modular Chemical Process Intensification (MCPI) Institute. In collaboration with the Department of Energy, the Institute will fundamentally redesign the process used for manufacturing chemicals, refining fuels, and producing other high-value products by combining many complex processing stages into one simple and streamlined step. Process intensification breakthroughs can dramatically shrink the footprint of equipment needed on a crowded factory floor or eliminate waste by using the raw input materials more efficiently. For example, by simplifying and shrinking the process, this approach could enable natural gas refining directly at the wellhead, saving up to half of the energy lost in the ethanol cracking process today. In the chemical industry alone, these technologies could save more than $9 billion annually in process costs.

• Reducing Embodied Energy and Decreasing Emissions (REMADE) in Materials Manufacturing Institute.

In collaboration with the Department of Energy, the Institute will focus on reducing the total lifetime use of energy in manufactured materials by developing new cradle-to-cradle technologies for the reuse, recycling, and remanufacturing

of manmade materials. U.S. manufacturing consumes nearly a third of the nation’s total energy use annually, with much of that energy embodied in the physical products made in manufacturing.

New technologies to better repurpose these materials could save U.S. manufacturers and the nation up to 1.6 quadrillion BTU of energy annually, equivalent to 280 million barrels of oil, or a month’s worth of that nation’s oil imports.

• Industry-proposed Institutes Competition. Leveraging authorities from legislation passed with broad bipartisan support in Congress, the Department of Commerce has launched the first “open topic” institute competition. This competition is open to any topic proposed by industry not already addressed by a manufacturing innovation institute. At least one institute will be awarded using FY2016 funds, and one or more will be awarded subject to the availability of additional funds.

The open topic competition design allows industry to propose technology areas seen as critical by leading manufacturers to the competitiveness of U.S. manufacturing.

Headquartered in Los Angeles, CA, the Smart Manufacturing Innovation Institute will also launch five regional manufacturing centers across the United States each focused on local technology transfer and workforce development. UCLA will lead the California regional center, in partnership with the city of Los Angeles harnessing the ability to tap the largest manufacturing base in the United States. Texas A&M University will lead the Gulf Coast center—a region anchored in the chemical, oil and gas sectors—and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

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continues on page 12

Government (RPI) will lead the Northeast center, where glass, ceramic and microelectronic manufacturing has a strong presence. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory will lead a hub in the Northwest and NC State will spearhead a regional hub for the Southeast.

To ensure that all American businesses, regardless of their size or potential resource limitations, have the opportunity to benefit from the institute’s progress, the Smart Manufacturing Innovation Institute will use an open-source digital platform and technology marketplace to integrate advanced sensors, controls, platforms, and modeling technologies into commercial smart manufacturing systems. The institute will also provide the manufacturing communities with easy and affordable access to real-time analytic tools, infrastructure, and industrial applications.

Through the NNMI, the new Smart Manufacturing Innovation Institute will partner with three existing manufacturing innovation institutes to pioneer technologies at the intersection of their unique capabilities. For example, the Smart Manufacturing Innovation Institute will partner with IACMI to demonstrate the value of using advanced sensors in the production of carbon fiber and with PowerAmerica to showcase the energy savings of using advanced sensors in the production of new wide bandgap semiconductor circuit boards.

Industry Partners: Aerospace Corporation; Alcoa; Analog Devices; ANSYS; ArcellorMittal; Autodesk; BASF Corporation; Bonneville Power Administration; Corning; Emerson Process Management; ExxonMobil; General Mills; Global Foundries; Google; KUKA Systems North America; Microsoft; Northrop Grumman; OSIsoft; Pfizer; Praxair;

Rockwell Automation; SaintGobain; Southern California Edison; United States Steel Corporation; United Technologies Research Center; Medium: A&E Engineering Inc.; LanzaTech; Materia; SEVA; TowerJazz; Small: Able Industrial Products Inc.; Accurate Dial & Nameplate; Advanced Polymer Monitoring Technologies; Apex; APS Technology; Baja Designs; Banks Integration; Bonanza Associates; Citrine Informatics; EnerG2; Eon Reality; GMS Industrial Supply; Goodyear Rubber; Greenway Energy; HannahMax Baking; Industrial Automation Consulting; Infologic, Inc.; Information Systems Associates; Loman CSIConsortium/Resource; Makai Ocean engineering; Martin Control Systems; Nila; Nimbis Services; One Cycle Control; Process Systems Enterprise Inc.; RES Group; Satelles: Savigent Software; Space Micro; Summertree Interiors Newport Cottages; SyncFab; ThinkIQ; Viewpoint Systems; VIMANA System Insights; Vinatech Engineering Inc.; VRCO; and many more small and medium-sized manufacturers.

Local and State Organizations: California Chamber of Commerce; City of Los Angeles; Energy Trust of Oregon; Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce; LAnSync, National Association of State Energy Officials; Oregon Department of Energy; PortTech LA; State Energy Conservation Office; State of California; State of Connecticut; State of Louisiana Board of Regents; State of Washington; Texas Workforce Commission Manufacturing Enterprise Program (MEP): California Manufacturing Technology Consulting (CMTC), North Carolina MEP, Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station; Investing in Manufacturing Community Partnerships (IMCP): Advanced Manufacturing

Partnership for Southern California (AMP SoCal); Pacific Northwest Manufacturing Partnership; Puget Sound Regional Council.

Academic Partners and Research Institutes: Community Colleges: (Brazosport, California Community Colleges (113), Chaffey; Irvine Valley; Lee, Long Beach City) California Institute for Telecommunications; Cal State U (Long Beach; Poly Pomona, Northridge); California Community Colleges Centers for Applied Competitive Technologies; Clemson U.; Georgia Institute of Technology; Idaho National Laboratory; Jet Propulsion National Laboratory; Lamar U.; Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory; Louisiana State U.; Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Michigan Tech Rail Transportation Program; Michigan Technological U.; Missouri U. of Science & Technology; Montana Gallatin College; Montana State U.; MontanaTech; National Energy Technology National Laboratory; National Renewable Energy Laboratoroy; North Carolina State U.; Oak Ridge National Laboratory; Oregon State U.; Pacific Northwest National Laboratory; Pennsylvania State U.; Purdue U.; Purdue U. Calumet; Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; Rochester Institute of Technology; Rutgers School of Engineering; San Diego Supercomputing Center; Savannah River National Laboratory; Texas A&M University; Tulane U;

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SUNY Buffalo; U. of California (Berkeley, Irvine, Los Angeles); U. of Connecticut; Louisville; Massachusetts; Southern California; Tennessee Knoxville; University of Texas (Austin; Rio Grande Valley); U. of Virginia; Virginia Tech; U. of Washington Clean Energy Institute; Washington State U.; West Virginia U. Independent Associations and Scientific Societies: American Foundry Society; Alliance to Save Energy; American Council for An Energy Efficient Economy; American Iron & Steel Institute; American Society of Quality; Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology; Council on Competitiveness; EWI; Gas Tech Institute; Manufacturing Enterprise Solutions Associations; North American Die Casting Association; North American Process Technology Alliance; National Center for Manufacturing Sciences; Oregon BEST; SME; Southwest Research Institute; Steel Founders Society of America; Northwest Food Processors Association.

Early Successes from the National Network for Manufacturing Innovation From the very first manufacturing institute pioneering novel 3D printing technologies in Youngstown, OH, to the most recently awarded institute pushing the boundaries of advanced fiber and textile technologies in Cambridge, MA, each of the now

nine institutes is part of a growing innovation network dedicated to securing the U.S. technological leadership required to win the next generation of advanced manufacturing.

The institutes, each led by manufacturing experts renowned in their field, have attracted nearly 1,000 companies, universities, and non-profits as members of the NNMI. The Federal government’s commitment of over $600 million to the nine awarded institutes has been matched by over $1.2 billion in non-Federal resources from across industry, academia, and state governments. Already these institutes are having an impact – from helping Rochester, NY attract over $1.4 billion and 800 manufacturing jobs through new photonics companies to pioneering the first FDA approved 3D-printed medical device.

Already, these investments are generating wins for U.S. manufacturing: • To help anchor production of new semiconductor technologies in the United States and accelerate the commercialization of advanced power electronics, in March, the Power America Manufacturing Innovation Institute successfully partnered with X-FAB in Lubbock, TX, to upgrade a $100 million dollar foundry to produce costcompetitive, next-generation semiconductors, enabling new business opportunities to sustain hundreds of jobs.

• Using next-generation metals manufacturing techniques, Lightweight Innovations for Tomorrow (LIFT), the Detroit institute focused on lightweight metals, has successfully reduced the weight of core metal parts found in cars and trucks by 40%, improving fuel efficiency and saving consumers dollars

at the pump. In addition, LIFT has introduced curriculum in 22 states to train workers on the use of lightweight metals. This summer, 38 companies will host students in paid manufacturing internship in partnership with LIFT. • America Makes has attracted hundreds of millions of dollars in new manufacturing investment to its region, including helping to attract GE’s new $32 million global 3D printing hub and spurring Alcoa to invest $60 million in its New Kensington, PA facilities, both of which will benefit from proximity to America Makes and its expertise in 3D printing with metal powders.

• In addition, America Makes, with Deloitte and other partners, has created a free online course on the fundamentals of 3D printing for businesses (http:// dupress.com/3d-opportunitycourse). Over the last year, over

14,000 business leaders have taken this course to learn what 3D printing can do for their businesses.

To learn more about the open competitions for these next manufacturing innovation institutes, please visit Manufacturing.gov.

The established manufacturing innovation institutes are: • America Makes, the National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Institute (Youngstown, OH) • Digital Manufacturing and Design Innovation Institute (Chicago, IL) • Lightweight Innovations for Tomorrow (Detroit, MI) • Power America (Raleigh, NC) • Institute for Advanced Composites Manufacturing Innovation (Knoxville, TN) • American Institute for Manufacturing Integrated Photonics (Rochester, NY) • Next Flex, the Flexible Hybrid

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Government

SelectUSA Investment Summit Spotlight:

Innovation in the United States of America

nnovation is the theme of the 2016 SelectUSA Investment Summit (http://selectusasummit. us/agenda) and for good reason – the United States is the premier destination for foreign investment, due in large part to our strong intellectual property

I

participating in the National Network for Manufacturing Innovation (NNMI). Each institute in the NNMI is focused on accelerating the development of advanced manufacturing technologies in a specific and promising technology area in order to make new, globally

protections, our partnerships with top research institutions, and our global leadership in research and development (R&D).

This year’s event takes place next week, June 20-21, at the Washington Hilton hotel and will feature perspectives on the future of innovation in the United States.

Representatives from the National Network for Manufacturing Innovation (NNMI) and The United States Patent and Trademark Office will be available at the U.S. Government Pavilion to answer questions and speak with Summit participants.

The interagency Advanced Manufacturing National Program Office (AMNPO) coordinates the efforts of the federal agencies

competitive products. Located at Kiosk 8, the AMNPO staff will be able to provide insight into their 2015 NNMI Program Strategic Plan, which describes the vision and goals of the program. The 2015 NNMI Program Strategic Plan is complemented by the 2015 NNMI Program Annual Report. Please visit Manufacturing.gov for more information.

Located nearby at Kiosk 10 is The United States Patent and Trademark Office, the federal agency responsible for promoting an understanding of intellectual property protection both domestically and globally.

Representatives will be on-site to discuss the processes involved in acquiring patents and registering

trademarks, as well as intellectual property policy. This information can enable U.S. innovators and entrepreneurs from around the world to protect their most valuable assets.

Looking to learn more about innovation at the Summit? Check out the agenda to find sessions that show how innovation can run through every area of business.

To join a discussion on advanced manufacturing, stop by the session on “Everyday Innovation: Optimizing Production,” taking place on Tuesday, June 21 from 11:00 – 11:50 am. This panel, which features government experts, innovators, and investors, examines exciting new trends in advanced manufacturing and explores how companies have benefited the most from America’s innovation culture to optimize processes as well as products.

We are excited for you to join us in a few days for the 2016 SelectUSA Investment Summit. If you are unable to attend in person, we are available to assist all year round.

Please visit www.SelectUSA.gov or contact us (www.selectusa.gov/ contact-us).  https://blog.trade.gov/2016/05/12/ benefits-of-trade-agreements-u-sexports/

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Government The United State of Women was an important moment for both women and girls, domestically and internationally. It featured speakers who both educated as well as inspired all of us to take action on June 14th and well after.

Stay updated on news and events surrounding The United State of Women Summit and ongoing programs and actions. Follow the Summit program using #StateofWomen. View the film at www.theunitedstateofwomen.org/film. Get guidance on being involved in changing the future at www.theunitedstateofwomen.org.

www.whitehouse.gov/ blog/2016/06/14/follow-alongunited-state-women

Democrats Sit-In for Gun Control

By Gabrielle Levy

D

emocratic lawmakers marched off the House floor after more than 25 hours, ending a rare sit-in protesting Republicans' refusal to hold votes on gun-control legislation.

"It is a struggle and we are going to win the struggle," Rep. John Lewis said, giving the final speech of the protest in which nearly 170 of the 188 Democrats participated at various times.

Heading outside the Capitol to greet supporters, Lewis yelled, "Never give up!" and a crowd that had gathered echoed him in response. He then led supporters in a rendition of the civil rights anthem "We Shall Overcome."

Democrats are eager to turn gun control into an election-year issue, sensing the public is frustrated at the all-too-frequent occurrence of mass shootings like the one that took place at

a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, earlier this month.

Polls show more than 85% of Americans support the two provisions Democrats highlighted in the sit in, and in last week's 15-hour filibuster in the Senate. www.usnews.com/news/articles/2016-06-23/ democrats-end-25-hour-sit-in Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., speaks after the House Democrats ended their sit-in protest on the House floor. (AP PHOTO/CAROLYN KASTER)

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Economy and Security to Dominate G7 Summit in Japan

By Amanda Stone

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eaders of seven leading industrialised countries converged on Ise-Shima in Japan for a two-day summit expected to focus on the global economy and international security.

Other summit topics include terrorism, cybersecurity and maritime security, including China's assertiveness in the East and South China Seas, where the country has territorial disputes with Japan and several Southeast Asian nations.

Donald Tusk, the European Union president, said on Thursday that he would seek G7 support for more global aid for refugees.

"If we [G7] do not take the lead in managing this crisis, nobody will," he said.

A flow of people from Syria and elsewhere to Europe has

confronted the continent with its biggest refugee crisis since World War II. Leaders will refer to maritime security in statements issued after the summit ends on Friday, including a call for respect for the rule of law and opposition to provocative acts that try to change the status quo by force, Japanese media said.

Fiscal stimulus debate Although full agreement on macro-economic policy looks hard to come by, the G7 leaders are expected to promote monetary, fiscal and structural policies to spur growth in their communique when the summit ends.

With Britain and Germany resisting calls for fiscal stimulus, Shinzo Abe, Japan's prime minister, will urge the G7 leaders to adopt a flexible fiscal policy,

taking into account each country's own situation.

Some analysts say Abe hopes to use a G7 statement on the global economy as cover for a domestic fiscal package including the possible delay in a rise of the nation's sales tax to 10% from 8% planned for next April.

The G7 leaders are also expected to reaffirm their previous commitment to stability in the foreign exchange market.

The G7 groups are Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States.

In advance of Thursday's meeting, Abe took G7 leaders to the Ise Grand Shrine, the most sacred site in Shinto, Japan's indigenous religion.

Ise Grand Shrine has 2,000 years of history and holds rituals and

16  June 2016  Black Business News  www.blackbbusinessnews.net  1-323-291-7819

ceremonies to pray for world peace, a rich harvest and the prosperity of Japan's imperial family.

Abe has said that he hopes the shrine visit will provide an insight into the heart of Japanese culture.

Critics say he is catering to a conservative base that wants to put

religion back in politics and revive traditional values. 

office/2016/05/27/fact-sheet-g-7summit-ise-shima-japan

http://www.aljazeera.com/ news/2016/05/economysecurity-dominate-g7-summitjapan-160526032410718.html

www.whitehouse.gov/the-pressoffice/2016/05/27/g7-ise-shimaleaders-declaration

www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-

17  June 2016  Black Business News  www.blackbbusinessnews.net  1-323-291-7819

Government

Saving Lives and Giving Hope by Reducing the Organ Waiting List

By ALEFIYAH MESIWALA, ROBBIE BARBERO, AND JENNIFER ERICKSON

Why We Must Reduce the Organ Waiting List There are currently more than 120,000 people on the waiting list for an organ in the United States.

Every 10 minutes, someone is added to the national waiting list for a life-saving organ transplant.

This is despite advances in clinical science and medical innovation over the last decade and widespread recognition by Americans that organ donation and transplantation make a real difference in people’s lives.

Twenty-two people die every day in the United States while waiting for a life-saving transplant.

We must and can do more.

The good news is that reducing the organ waiting list is a problem that can be solved – and that’s why today, the Obama Administration and dozens of companies, foundations, universities, hospitals, and patient advocacy organizations are taking steps to change that by announcing a new set of actions that will build on the Administration’s efforts to improve outcomes for individuals waiting for organ transplants and support for living donors.

The actions announced aim to: • Close the gap between the 95% of Americans who support organ donation and the roughly 50% who are registered • Invest in clinical research and innovation that could potentially increase the number of transplants by almost 2,000 each year and improve outcomes for

patients • Facilitate breakthrough research and development with almost $200 million in investments

Patient Stories Last year, the United States exceeded 30,000 annual organ transplants for the first time. While much work remains to help the more than 120,000 Americans on the organ waiting list, progress is happening and great promise exists for the future.

For most Americans, getting off the organ waiting list and into the operating room for their life-saving transplant is a game-changing moment. When a transplantation goes well, it truly is a renewal on life – transplants have the hope of offering increased survival and more quality time spent with family and friends.

Commitments to Reduce the Organ Waiting List The Federal government along with dozens of companies, foundations, universities, hospitals, and patient advocacy organizations are stepping up to solve the problem of reducing the organ waiting list. Here are a few of those commitments: Facilitating breakthrough research and development with almost $200 million in investments Just a few generations ago, living without kidneys was unimaginable.

But that diagnosis changed thanks

to Dr. Willem Kolff, a Dutch immigrant who brought his invention of the dialysis machine to the United States after World War II. New breakthroughs in bioengineering, transplantation, and organ preservation can further increase the number of organ transplants and improve outcomes. Researchers have the potential to repair or replace tissues and organs, reduce waitlists for organ transplants, and potentially reduce health care cost for treatments – but we must continue to invest in breakthrough research and development. For example, consider that most organs can only be stored for three to twelve hours, which means that many viable transplant organs are discarded. If even half of all unused donated hearts and lungs could reach transplant patients in time, experts estimate that the waiting list for hearts and lungs could end in two to three years. Announcements include, among others: • The Department of Defense (DOD) is announcing more than $160 million in public-private investment in a new Advanced Tissue Biofabrication Manufacturing Innovation Institute to research and develop next-generation manufacturing techniques that can be used to repair and replace cells and tissues and that may one day lead to organ replacement. DOD also is announcing $7 million in awards to small businesses working

18  June 2016  Black Business News  www.blackbbusinessnews.net  1-323-291-7819

to advance the science and technology of organ and tissue preservation.

• The American Society of Nephrology (ASN) commits the first $7 million toward the design, launch, and execution of a potential Kidney Disease XPRIZE, in partnership with the XPRIZE Foundation.

• The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation (CFF) is announcing $15 million for projects dedicated to improving outcomes after lung transplantation.

• The Laura and John Arnold Foundation (LJAF) is announcing a $4.2 million grant to test donor interventions that maximize the quantity and quality of life-saving organs that each donor is able to give.

Closing the gap between the 95% of Americans who support organ donation and the roughly 50% who are registered organ donors The donor registration system was first built in 1968 and has been run almost exclusively through states’ Departments of Motor Vehicles. Despite data showing 95% of Americans support organ donation, only approximately half are registered as organ donors.

Now, with new technologies available, there is an opportunity to re-imagine the donor registration

system in more seamless and effective ways, with the goals of increasing registrations and lifesaving transplants. More than 20 entities—from organ procurement organizations (OPOs) to patient advocacy organizations to major technology companies—have committed to help reduce the agonizing wait for an organ transplant.

Announcements include, among others: • More than 12 organizations including Facebook, ORGANIZE, Tinder, and Twitter are developing new tools and public advocacy campaigns to increase the options and ease of registering to be an organ donor, with a goal of achieving 1 million new registrations and social declarations by the autumn of 2016.

• Amy Poehler's Smart Girls will create content and use its social channels to promote organ donation and registration throughout summer and autumn of 2016.

Investing in clinical research and innovation that could potentially increase the number of transplants by almost 2,000 each year and improve outcomes for patients Federal agencies are taking new actions to improve outcomes in transplantation, by improving support for veterans–who experience kidney failure at a higher rate than the general public– and helping more Americans access life-saving transplants through kidney paired donation, which pools living donors and recipients to increase the likelihood of matches.

Private sector organizations are developing better resources and tools that are critical to ensuring access to life-saving transplantation opportunities.

Announcements include, among

others: • Walter Reed National Military Medical Center (Walter Reed Bethesda) today announces a pilot to pioneer kidney paired donation chains started via the military share program–in which families of active duty military service members donate one of their kidneys to patients listed for transplant at Walter Reed–to help those who are hard to match to receive kidney transplants.

• More than 30 transplant centers are announcing a collaboration to share data and best practices for kidney transplants for hardto-match patients, which has the potential to help almost 1,000 more people a year access transplants.

• Johns Hopkins University is working with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease to launch a multicenter study of HIV-positive to HIV-positive organ transplants; as protocols are developed to use the HIV-positive donor pool, this could lead to as many as 1,000 more transplants per year.

• The United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS), the nation’s Organ Procurement and Transplant Network, will increase efficiencies in the organ procurement and transplant system as well as the potential number of transplants through new technology and data tools that are open to transplant centers and the research community.

How You Can Engage You can register today as an organ donor at https://organize.org.  www.whitehouse.gov/ blog/2016/06/13/saving-livesand-giving-hope-reducing-organwaiting-list

19  June 2016  Black Business News  www.blackbbusinessnews.net  1-323-291-7819

Use Your Senses to Spot a Gas Leak To help keep your community safe and secure, use your senses of sight, hearing or smell to alert you to any of the following signs of a natural gas leak.

LOOK

WHAT TO DO IF YOU SUSPECT A GAS LEAK • Remain calm • Don’t light a match, candle or cigarette • Don’t turn electrical appliances or lights on or off or use any device that could cause a spark • Natural gas leaking from a plastic pipe can create static electricity which can ignite the gas • Immediately evacuate the area, and from a safe location, call 800-427-2200, 24 hours a day, seven days a week; or call 911

© 2014 Southern California Gas Company. All rights reserved.

• A damaged connection to a gas appliance • Dirt or water being blown in the air • Dead or dying vegetation (in an otherwise moist area) over or near gas pipeline areas • A fire or explosion near a pipeline • Exposed pipeline after an earthquake, fire, flood or other disaster

LISTEN • An unusual sound, such as a hissing, whistling or roaring sound near a gas line or appliance

SMELL • The distinctive odor* of natural gas *Some people may not be able to smell the odor because they have a diminished sense of smell, olfactory fatigue (normal, temporary inability to distinguish an odor after prolonged exposure to it) or because the odor is being masked or hidden by other odors that are present, such as cooking, damp, musty or chemical odors.

In addition, certain conditions in pipe and soil can cause odor fade – the loss of odorant so that it is not detectable by smell.

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BBN Show Biz Buzz

By Linda Ware

Harry Potter Stage Play Lead Cast Revealed

T

he producers of stage play “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” have revealed that Jamie Parker, Noma Dumezweni and Paul Thornley

Jessie T. Usher

Independence Day: Resurgence

W

will lead the cast as Harry, Hermione and Ron. When the casting was first announced last year, author J.K. Rowling affirmed that she never defined Hermione’s race in the books, and said she “loved” the idea of a non-white actress filling the scholarly character’s shoes. Emma Watson played Hermione in the eight Harry Potter films from 2001 to 2011.

In the same article, director John Tiffany says he was “shocked [that] people couldn’t visualize a non-white person as the hero of a story.”

The two-part production begins previewing at the London’s Palace Theatre in June.  http://variety.com/t/noma-dumezweni http://www.msn.com/en-us/entertainment/ news/jk-rowling-slams-%E2%80%98bunch-ofracists%E2%80%99-attacking-black-hermionecasting/ar-BBtTbwz?li=BBnbfcL&ocid=mailsignout

e always knew they were coming back. After Independence Day (1996) redefined the event movie genre, the next epic chapter delivers global spectacle on an unimaginable scale.

Using recovered alien technology, the nations of Earth have collaborated on an immense defense program to protect the planet. But nothing can prepare us for the aliens’ advanced and unprecedented force. Only the ingenuity of a few brave men and women can bring our world back from the brink of extinction. Out June 24th.

Vivica A. Fox returns as the widow of Captain Steven Hiller (Will Smith, not returning), who was killed in a test run of a fighter plane designed with alien technology. Jessie T. Usher plays the stepson of Steven Hiller, now deceased, and Jasmine Dubrow-Hiller. The role of Dylan was previously played by Ross Bagley.

Dylan is a pilot and captain in the ESD.  Vivica Fox www.comingsoon.net/ movies/trailers/692643-hunt-independence-dayresurgence#

22  June 2016  Black Business News  www.blackbbusinessnews.net  1-323-291-7819

Star Trek: Beyond

T

he USS Enterprise c r e w explores the furthest reaches of uncharted space, where they encounter a mysterious new enemy who puts them and everything the Federation stands for to the test. Featured performers include Zoe Saldana as Uhura and Idris Elba as Krall.

Also in the film which will be in theaters in July are Eny Aneka, Nicole Anthony

Thomas Cadrot

Emy Aneka

Nicole Anthony

Zoe Saldana as Uhura and Thomas Cadrot.  www.imdb.com/title/ tt2660888/

Two Dramas on Broadway to Know About

A

mid the chaos of the Liberian Civil War, the captive wives of a rebel officer band together to form a fragile community - until the balance of their lives Idris Elba as Krall is upset by the arrival of a new girl who can read and the return of a former captive turned rebel soldier. Drawing on reserves of wit and compassion, each woman must discover her own means of survival in this deeply felt portrait of women

Lupita Nyong'o finding and testing their own strength.

“Eclipsed” is the only Broadway show that features a cast of all-female Black actors. The play was written

by Black female, Danai Gurira and produced by two Black producers Stephen C. Byrd and Alia JonesHarvey.

Lupita Nyong'o is a featured performer aong with Pascale Armand, Akosua Busia, Zainab Jah, Saycon Sengbloh, Joniece Abbott-Pratt, Ayesha Jordan, and Adeola Role. see BBN Show Biz Buzz on page 24

23  June 2016  Black Business News  www.blackbbusinessnews.net  1-323-291-7819

Actors of Color Make Tony Awards History

BBN Show Biz Buzz from BBN Show Biz Buzz on page 23

T

Forest Whittaker "Hughie" is a rarely seen oneact theatrical masterpiece that beautifully offers a unique insight into the human condition.

Academy Award®, Golden Globe®, and BAFTA Award winner Forest Whitaker (The Crying Game, The Last King of Scotland, The Butler) made his highly anticipated Broadway debut in this emotionally charged play by the great Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Eugene O’Neill.

Cynthia Erivo

he 70th annual Tony Awards will likely be remembered as historic for several reasons, in no small part thanks to Hamilton's dominance. But there's one record in particular that stands out — and it lies in the musical actor categories.

For the first time in Tonys history, Renée all four of those categories — lead Elise actor, lead actress, featured actor Goldsberry and featured actress — featured winners of color. Those winners, respectively: Leslie Odom Jr. of Hamilton, Cynthia Erivo of The Color Purple, Daveed Diggs of Hamilton and Renée Elise Goldsberry of Hamilton.

The only time the Tonys got close to this record previously was in 1982, when the stars of Dreamgirls won the lead actor, lead actress and featured actor categories.

Together, these four acting winners made history Sunday night.  https://mic.com/articles/146021/ actors-of-color-just-sweptevery-musical-performancecategory-at-the-2016-tony-awards#. tMDtyJZUo

http://harlemcommunitynews. com/2016/03/10/march-10-issue/

New Documentary from EPIX "Serena: The Other Side of Greatness" Daveed Diggs Leslie Odom, Jr.

S

erena Williams narrates this eponymous documentary that takes a closer look at all sides of

24  June 2016  Black Business News  www.blackbbusinessnews.net  1-323-291-7819

partners, mobile phones, tablets and connected TV devices. As the leader in the proliferation of "TV Everywhere," EPIX was the first premium network to provide multi-platform access online at EPIX.com as well as on Xbox, PlayStation®, Android phones and tablets and Roku® players. EPIX is also available across Apple iPhones® and iPads®, Chromecast, Android TV and more.

EPIX subscribers get access to the best movies and entertainment when they want, wherever they want.  http://www.epix.com/movie/ serena/

her life as an athlete-designerbusinesswoman, including close-up glimpses into her personal world.

A genuine, authentic film about an internationally renowned athlete, learn what it takes to reach the top.

EPIX launched in 2009 with the goal to bring consumers the best access to the best entertainment.

A joint venture between Viacom Inc., its Paramount Pictures unit, Lionsgate and Metro-GoldwynMayer Studios Inc. (MGM), the premium movie and original programming channel delivers a powerful entertainment experience with the latest movie releases, classic film franchises, original documentaries, and comedy & music events on TV, on-demand, online and on devices.

Available in over 50 million homes nationwide, EPIX is distributed across major TV providers including cable, satellite and telco

Award Winning Documentary "Body Team 12"

V

ulcan Productions partnered with director David Darg and RYOT Films, who worked alongside a small but grimly courageous group of Liberian Red Cross workers tasked with collecting the dead during the height of the Ebola outbreak: Body Team 12. Told from the ground in Monrovia, Liberia, this short but powerful film is communicated through the eyes of the only female member of the team, Garmai Sumo, and reveals the heartbreaking, lifesaving work of removing the dead from the victims’ loved ones in order to halt transmission of the disease.

During the Ebola outbreak, myths about how one became infected and how the disease spread ran rampant. These belief systems would pose a substantial risk for a group of 12 volunteers charged with removing dead bodies felled by the virus. In 2014 Director David Darg was an Ebola aid worker and first responder. He was immediately struck by the bravery of Liberia’s Ebola body teams and in particular, by the only female member of the group, Garmai Sumo. Vulcan, who had spent significant time on the ground, immediately recognized the importance of the goal set by Darg, to shine a light on the monumental heroism of Body Team 12, and in the process educate the public about the real, and not-so-real risks that Ebola posed.

Premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2015, Body Team 12 won the award for Best Documentary Short.  http://www.epix.com/movie/serena/

"Greenleaf" Series Kicks Off on OWN

25  June 2016  Black Business News  www.blackbbusinessnews.net  1-323-291-7819

BBN Show Biz Buzz from BBN Show Biz Buzz on page 25

T

he new scripted drama series starring OWN founder Oprah Winfrey, debuted to the cable network’s best-ever ratings in

star alongside Winfrey. The series is produced by Lionsgate.

“Greenleaf” will settle into its regular 10 p.m. Wednesday time period.  http://variety.com/2016/tv/ ratings/tv-ratings-oprah-winfreysgreenleaf-premiere-1201801597/

Athlete to Watch in Rio

T

he pint-sized powerhouse, S i m o n e Biles, is the best gymnast of her generation. Maybe the best ever.

Oprah Winfrey poses with "Greenleaf" actors Merle She’s won the last Dandridge (from left), Keith David and Lynn Whitfield. three all-around Scott Garfield) titles at the world its target demographic.

Among women ages 25-54, “Greenleaf” drew 3.04 million viewers and a 2.18 rating in Nielsen live-plus-same day numbers.

Written by Craig Wright and

Simone Biles executive produced by Winfrey and Clement Virgo, “Greenleaf” explores the inner workings of the powerful family behind a Memphis megachurch. Merle Dandridge, Keith David and Lynn Whitfield

is as flawless as her skills, making what are some of the most difficult routines in the world look like child’s play.  http://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/ olympics/the-best-american-athleteyou-dont-know-%E2%80%94-yet/arAAhufE3?li=BBnb7Kz

Samuel L. Jackson Brings History to Tarzan Role

G

eorge Washington Williams, the character played by Jackson, represents the film's attempts to differentiate itself from past Tarzan movies by incorporating more real-world history.

"He's a real person you can actually Google, essentially the first African American to go into

gymnastics championships, the first time a woman has won three in a row.

She has a record 10 gold medals f r o m worlds, Samuel Jackson as George Washington Wiliams a n d needed the Congo and discover what he only three trips to win them. suspected - that King Leopold [II, With a recently upgraded of Belgium] was using slave labour second vault, it’s not a to bring out diamonds, ivory and stretch to say she could rubber. Williams was a statesman, win five medals in Rio, all of a preacher, a soldier, he was a lot which are likely to be gold. of different things."

Power is what sets Biles "It will encourage people to take apart. She’s a natural a harder look at what happened tumbler, with so much historically in that particular country explosiveness that her and why it is the place it is now and tricks at the end of her floor routine the price of decimation of not just the are tougher than what others do at tribes but the animal population."  the start. But all that power means www.nzherald.co.nz/ nothing if she’s splatting all over the entertainment/news/article.cfm?c_ floor. Which she’s not. Her execution id=1501119&objectid=11661362

26  June 2016  Black Business News  www.blackbbusinessnews.net  1-323-291-7819

In Focus - Black Music Month

THE WHITE HOUSE PRESIDENTIAL PROCLAMATION AFRICAN-AMERICAN MUSIC APPRECIATION MONTH, 201

A

vital part of our Nation's proud heritage, African-American music exemplifies the creative spirit at the heart of American identity and is among the most innovative and powerful art the world has ever known. It accompanies us in our daily lives, and it has rung out at turning points in our history and demonstrated how our achievements as a culture go hand-inhand with our progress as a Nation. During African-American Music Appreciation Month, we honor the artists who, through this music, bring us together, show us a true reflection of ourselves, and inspire us to reach for the harmony that lies beyond our toughest struggles.

Songs by African-American musicians span the breadth of the human experience and resonate in every corner of our Nation -- animating our bodies, stimulating our imaginations, and nourishing our souls. In the ways they transform real stories about real people into art, these artists speak to universal human emotion and the restlessness that stirs within us all. African-American music helps us imagine a better world, and it offers hope that we will get there together.

This month, we celebrate the music that reminds us that our growth as a Nation and as people is reflected in our capacity to create great works of art. Let us recognize the performers behind this incredible music, which has compelled us to stand up -- to dance, to express our faith through song, to march against injustice, and to defend our country's enduring promise of freedom and opportunity for all.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim June 2016 as African-American Music Appreciation Month. I call upon public officials, educators, and all the people of the United States to observe this month with appropriate activities and programs that raise awareness and foster appreciation of music that is composed, arranged, or performed by African Americans.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this thirty-first day of May, in the year of our Lord two thousand sixteen, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and fortieth.

BARACK OBAMA

27  June 2016  Black Business News  www.blackbbusinessnews.net  1-323-291-7819

In Focus - Black Music Month

BBN Remembers Some of the Musicians who Passed in 2015 and 2016

producer sampled

by Dr. Dre and others, died in his sleep (4-5-2016) in Los Angeles.

Leon Haywood B e r n i e Worrell, ParliamentFunkadelic’s keyboardist passed away at the age of 72 on June 24, 2016.

Bernie Worrell Prince

(Apr

21,

2016): He downplayed his illness by appearing on stage at Paisley P a r k ’ s d a n c e party on Saturday... ensuring fans that he was well.

He is quoted Prince as saying, “Wait a few days before you waste any prayers.”

Phife Dawg, A Tribe Called Quest (Mar 22, 2016)

D e n i s e Katrina Matthews), singer of Vanity 6, has died (Feb 15, 2016):.

died in hospice care.

Maurice W h i t e , E a r t h , Wind and Fire (Feb 4, 2016): Founding b a n d m e m b e r died in his sleep after a long battle with Maurice White Parkinson's disease at his home in Los Angeles, at the age of 74.

Billy Paul - Legendary soul singer Billy Paul has died at the age of 81.

According to his website, the musician passed Billy Paul away at his home in Blackwood, New Jersey after a serious medical condition.

Phife Dawg Prince’s protégé Vanity (real name

Daryl Coley

Daryl Coley Minister and Gospel singer has died, he was 60 and

Nicholas Caldwell Nicholas Caldwell, co-founder and singer with the California R&B group The Whispers, has died. He was 71. Caldwell died 1/5/2016 of congestive heart failure at his San Francisco home.

Maurice White Cynthia Robinson, (Jan. 12, 1946-Nov 23, 2015).

Sly and the Family S t o n e trumpeter, vocalist and cofounder.

Cynthia Robinson

Leon Haywood - the silky smooth R&B singer-songwriter and

28  June 2016  Black Business News  www.blackbbusinessnews.net  1-323-291-7819

A l l e n Toussaint (Jan. 14, 1938-Nov. 10, 2015).

Songwriter, producer a n d performer A l l e n Allen Toussaint Toussaint, who helped define the sound of soul and R&B in New Orleans, died following a performance in Madrid on Nov. 9.

Kyle Jean-Baptiste 1993-Aug. 29, 2015) Broadway newcomer Kyle Jean-Baptiste, who made his Broadway debut in the revival of Les Miserables, died after falling from a fire escape at his mother’s home. The 21-yearold made theater history when he went on as understudy in the lead role of Jean Valjean, becoming the youngest African-American actor to appear in the role.

Sean Price August 7, 2015: Rapper Sean Price died in his sleep at the young age of 43. Price was a member of the hiphop groups Heltah Skeltah, Boot Camp Clik, and Random Axe.

Natalie Maria Cole (February 6, 1950 – December 31, 2015) was

Capo (July 11, 2015) , a 22-year-old Diane Charlemagne (Feb. 2, 1964-Oct.28, 2015). Urban Cookie Collective and Moby vocalist Diane Charlemagne died at the age of 51 on Oct. 28 following a battle with cancer.

Koopsta Knicca (April 27, 1 9 7 5 Oct. 9, 2015).

Rapper a n d Koopsta Knicca member of the Memphis group Three 6 Mafia, Robert “Koopsta Knicca” Cooper Phillips died in Memphis due to complications from a stroke he suffered.

Kyle

Jean-Baptiste

(Dec.

3,

Capo

an American singer-songwriter, and actress. The daughter of Nat 'King' Cole.  rapper affiliated with Chief Keef’s Glo Gang, was reportedly shot in a drive-by shooting and killed in Chicago on July 11.

Harold Battiste (Oct. 28, 1931-June 19, 2015) prolific jazz musician Battiste passed away after a lengthy illness at the age of 83.

Harold Battiste

29  June 2016  Black Business News  www.blackbbusinessnews.net  1-323-291-7819

In Focus - Muhammad Ali

Muhammad Ali: The Champion Who Never Sold Out

By William C. Rhodden

M

uhammad Ali was an ungentrified black man.

That simple truth has resonated in my heart the past few days as volumes of praise and tributes have been lavished on Ali and his legacy.

I had not expected to be this sad. We all knew this day was coming, that he would die, but the finality of it has been a bit difficult to accept.

Now I understand what my father meant many years ago. He said that when Joe Louis died, he felt that he lost a little bit of himself. Louis had helped frame the ethos of my father’s generation of black men and women as Ali helped frame mine.

Louis’s warning to his opponents summed up the determination of my father’s generation: You can run, but you can’t hide.

Ali told us to float like butterflies and sting like bees.

We all have the heroes and legends of our youth. I am forever grateful that the athlete I most respected and admired taught me the realities of life in the United States — that being an active, conscious black person in America meant traveling a road on which wealth and trinkets would test the will of men and women of principle.

Gentrification is on my mind because I live in Harlem and have watched as this and other previously black neighborhoods around the country have been gobbled up and transformed from black to nonblack.

Black homeowners, eschewing neighborhood and community, sell for million-dollar trinkets.

Ali never sold.

I was a high school junior when he was stripped of his heavyweight title. When his championship belt was taken, Ali effectively said that it was a mere trinket, nothing compared with the principle he was being asked to give up.

I loved that, and I would try — sometimes succeeding, sometimes not — to live by that ideal.

I met Ali for the first time in the 1970s while working at Ebony magazine. The year I arrived at Ebony, Ali pulled off the greatest boxing upset I have ever seen, knocking out the seemingly invincible, previously undefeated George Foreman in Zaire.

Two of Ali’s three fights against Joe Frazier were classics, but the victory over Foreman was

transformative. For Foreman, it was life-altering.

I never spoke to Ali about the Foreman fight, but I spoke plenty about it with Foreman. He was devastated and eventually took a 10-year hiatus from boxing.

Foreman said he had a religious revelation. I think the revelation was Ali, and everything he stood for.

It was during that period that my friend Greg Simms, then the sports editor at Jet magazine, called me one afternoon and asked if I wanted to go to Ali’s house. Of course I did.

But once inside, in the presence of an athlete I held in such high regard, I wasn’t sure what to say, and said nothing. I just stood there.

Life went on. In September 1976, I covered Ali’s third bout against Ken Norton, at Yankee Stadium.

Two years later, I left Ebony to become a feature writer and jazz critic for The Baltimore Sun, and from there, I joined The New York Times in 1982. By that point, the impact Ali had made on my life — the strong belief I now had that black athletes needed to express themselves politically — was set.

I was in Atlanta for the 1996 Summer Games when Ali lit the Olympic torch and seemed to set the world on fire. Two years later, I was at the United Nations when Kofi Annan, then the secretary general, presented Ali with the Messenger of Peace Award. In 2005, I was in Louisville, Ky., for the dedication of the Muhammad Ali Center.

In each of these instances, the toll that Parkinson’s disease was taking on Ali was increasingly evident. Still, Ali kept up a grueling schedule. After the Louisville e, event, for example, he was scheduled d "What I gleaned to fly to Germany to o from Ali’s life, as I’ve lived receive an award. d. mine, is I asked his wife, e, that the goal is n ot to go Lonnie, why Alii th ro u g h li fe undefeated. kept traveling,, The quest is to ex why he subjected ercise himself to the resilience and co me back grind. She said: st ro n g er."

“People always W il li am C . Rhoden ask: ‘Isn’t he tired?

Shouldn’t he rest?’

30  June 2016  Black Business News  www.blackbbusinessnews.net et  11-323-291-7819 1-32 3233-29 2911-78 7819 19

was shaking from fear. Somehow, between the two of them, I got the thing lit.”

When someone asked him to name his toughest foe, Ali said: “U.S. military.

Next toughest fight was my first wife.”

Later, in his hotel room, I was speaking with Ali when he looked at me and asked, “What’s your name?”

Of course he knew my name, but he wanted to make a larger point.

“Bill Rhoden,” I said, knowing what was coming.

“That’s not your name. That’s your slave name.”

He talked for another 15 minutes about racism and oppression and history.

What I gleaned from Ali’s life, as I’ve lived mine, is that the goal is not to go through life undefeated.

The quest is to exercise

Photo by Gordan Parks Muhammad says, ‘I got plenty of time to rest.’”

My last real exchange with Ali came at the Sydney Olympics, in 2000, during a reception. By now, his Parkinson’s had progressed to the point that you really had to strain to make out his words. Yet Ali was in great form.

Asked how it had felt to light the Olympic torch four years earlier, Ali said: “Scary as hell. My left hand was shaking because of Parkinson’s; my right hand

resilience and come back stronger.

Beloved by much of the world, Ali was nonetheless consistently, unapologetically black.

I loved that about him. Muhammad Ali was an ungentrified black man.  http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/07/sports/ muhammad-ali-the-champion-who-never-sold-out. html?_r=1

31  June 2016  Black Business News  www.blackbbusinessnews.net  1-323-291-7819

In Focus - Muhammad Ali

Publisher's Message from page 3 phase of his life featuring a knock down drag out brawl against racism in the United States of America. Over the next four years Ali solidified his claim as “The Greatest” by defending his title nine times.

Then came Viet Nam and the draft.

“Why should they ask me to put on a uniform and go 10,000 miles from home and drop bombs and bullets on Brown people in Vietnam while so-called Negro people in Louisville are treated like dogs and denied

s i m p l e h u m a n rights? - I have nothing to lose by standing up for my beliefs.

So I’ll go to jail, so what?

We’ve been in jail for 400 years.”

As the world watched the challenge unfold, they understood i t s significance in the escalating push for civil rights and began to rally around the still young - in his prime – undefeated/undisputed heavy weight champion of the world engaged in the greatest “rumble” of his life. Ali was sentenced to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine. He was stripped of his passport and his heavyweight title and banned from fighting in the US. He was also crowned an icon in the struggle for Black Liberation and Human rights around the world. He was the “People’s Champion."  http://muhammadali.com/

"Impossible is ju st a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world they've bee n given than to explore the pow er they have to change it. Imposs ible is not a fact .

It's an opinion. Im possible is not a declaration. It's a dare. Impossib le is potential. Imp ossible is temporary. Imp ossible is nothing."

32  June 2016  Black Business News  www.blackbbusinessnews.net  1-323-291-7819

Saying Goodbye

Business

Commander Janice G. Smith, First Jamaican-Born, to Command a US Navy Destroyer

C

ommander Janice G. Smith became the first immigrant of Jamaican descent to command a destroyer when she assumed command of the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Oscar Austin (DDG 79) during a ceremony held at Naval Station Norfolk, May 2.

Smith, from Morris Hall District, Saint Catherine, Jamaica, relieved Cmdr.

Russel B. Sanchez,

from Clarksville, Texas, during a ceremony attended by past and present Oscar Austin crew members, friends, and family.

Smith immigrated to Florida with her family in 1988 after attending Bog Walk High School, Saint Catherine. The following year, she enlisted in the Navy as a mess management specialist. In 1997, she earned her commission through Officer Candidate School.

Smith joined Oscar Austin nearly two years ago as the ship’s executive officer. By “fleeting up,” she will remain aboard as commanding officer for 18 months. She is only the second woman of African-American descent to command a destroyer and Oscar Austin’s first female commanding officer.

“It is a privilege and honor to command Oscar Austin, and I look forward to working with you over the next 18 months as we perform our nation’s tasking,” Smith said. “As a team we will continue to make our namesake, Pfc. Oscar Palmer Austin, United States Marine Corps, proud.”

Oscar Austin is the first Flight II Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer and is currently in a training cycle in preparation for an upcoming deployment.  https://iamajamaican.net/ news/2016/05/first-jamaicancommand-us-navy-destroyer/

Business

Ursula Burns to Chair New Document Technology Company

By Kandia Johnson

U

rsula Burns, the first black woman to lead an S&P 500 company, will step down from her role as chief executive officer at Xerox after the company splits into two companies—a document technology company, which includes its Document Technology and Document Outsourcing businesses, and a

Document Technology company and will help ensure a smooth transition to a new management team,” said Ann Reese, Xerox’s lead independent director. “The company will be well-positioned to leverage its global industry leadership, strategic focus and ability to innovate post-separation, and we are very pleased that Ursula

during her annual shareholders address in Norwalk, Conn., to a small gathering of executives and investors, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal.

In 2014, Ursula Burns made the Forbes Most Powerful Women list. Additionally, Black Enterprise listed her on the 10 Most Powerful African Americans directing U.S.

Ursula Burns Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) company.

After the split, Burns will become chairman of the newly formed document technology company.

According to a statement released

by XEROX, “Ursula’s deep industry experience and relationships along with her proven leadership skills will be valuable assets for the

will continue to play a critical role in making that happen.”

In 1980, Burns joined Xerox as an intern and worked her way up to CEO. Considering only 15 black executives have ever made CEO of a Fortune 500 company, this is a dismal outlook for the corporate sector. “A sad day for me, but a happy day as well, ” said Burns

Corporations list, as well as being ranked among BE’s “75 Most Powerful Women in Business” and the “100 Most Powerful Executives in Corporate America.”  http://www.blackenterprise.com/career/ ursula-burns-to-step-down-as-xeroxceo-after-company-split

37  June 2016  Black Business News  www.blackbbusinessnews.net  1-323-291-7819

Business

9 Places You Can Learn How to Code (for Free)

By Larry Kim

C

oding isn't just for the supergeeks anymore-getting a little code under your belt is an incredibly valuable skill for marketers and any other members of a business team. You can: • Use HTML to fine-tune some wonky text paragraphs.

Even the smallest bit of HTML knowledge can be helpful when dealing with finicky content management systems.

• Communicate better with your company's programmers.

Maybe you don't need to be a programming pro yourself, but having basic code literacy will help you relate to the coders in your workplace and better understand how and why bugs occur.

• Optimize and test landing pages. Basic HTML and CSS are key if you want to optimize and test your landing pages. And trust me--you definitely want to be doing those things!

• Cut down on IT managers.

While you'll likely still need some head IT honchos, more coders means less workout for the IT team.

• Empower creators.

Understanding code opens up huge opportunities to create original, unique content, whether in the form of websites or through app development.

1. MIT Open Courseware MIT offers free course content available for you to browse through at your leisure. Choose from

courses such as: • Introduction to Programming in Java • Introduction to Computer Science and Programming • Practical Programming in C

2. Code Academy Code

Academy (www. codecademy.com) is a well-known first stop for those looking to begin their coding education.

Students can choose from several different track courses, focusing on: • JavaScript • PHP • Python • jQuery • Ruby • HTML + CSS

3. Khan Academy One of the original free online coding resources, Khan Academy (www.khanacademy.org/computing/ c o m p u t e r programming)

has come a long way. With easyto-follow course sections with step-by-step video tutorials, Khan Academy is a great place to get started with your coding career.

4. HTML5 Rocks HTML5

Rocks (http://www. is a Google

project, with Google pro contributors bringing you the latest updates, resource guides, and slide decks for all things HTML5.

The language tends to be higher level, so it's probably more suited to those with some previous experience. However, ambitious newbies are still welcome.

5. Coursera The king of online education, Coursera (www.coursera.org) offers free classes from dozens of universities across the country, with a healthy smattering of coding classes for those with the desire to learn.

6. Udemy Udemy (www.udemy.com) offers a ton of great video courses on everything from personal improvement to computer programming. Most of the in-depth courses come with a cost, but there are often discounts and 50% coupons floating around the Web that can bring down prices.

There are also plenty of free courses which are well suited for beginners. Give them a shot!

7. Udacity Udacity (www.udacity.com) is another great source to jumpstart your coding cognition. You can pay for their guided courses, which include a personal coach to help you develop your skills and lead

html5rocks.com/en)

38  June 2016  Black Business News  www.blackbbusinessnews.net  1-323-291-7819

you in the right direction, or browse their courseware materials pro bono.

8. Google University Consortium If you want to learn code, why not look to the king of the internet for help? Google's University Consortium (https://developers. google.com/university) offers free courses on: • mobile/android development • web development • programming languages The materials tend to be catered for more intermediate to advanced users, although there is a smattering of content for beginners too.

9. edX edX (www.edx.org) offers tons of MOOCs, including courses on programming. Current upcoming programming classes (2014) include: • Programming Languages • Programming for Everybody (Python)

7 (More) Places to Learn to Code for Free 1. Harvard University's CS50 class This free computer-science

introduction-tocourse (www.

edx.org/course/introduction-computerscience-harvardx-cs50x#!) is taught

by David J. Malan, with a focus on these programming languages: C, PHP, and JavaScript plus SQL, CSS, and HTML. You will learn: • The ins and outs of programming • How to think algorithmically • Concepts including algorithms, encapsulation, security, and web development U p o n successful completion of the course, you can pay $90 to receive a certificate of

verification.

5. Dash by General Assembly

2. Code.org

For true beginners, Dash by General Assembly (https:// dash.generalassemb.ly) is a top choice. It teaches HTML, CSS, and JavaScript via browser-based activities and exercises.

Learning to code in your browser is a different experience, but one that translates well when it comes time to take on a "real life" project.

With Code.org, (https://code.org/ learn) you can learn the basics of computer science through a drag and drop, feature-packed learning experience. As a selfdirected tutorial, complete with lectures from some of the biggest names in programming (think Mark Zuckerberg et al), you can work at your own pace. With tens of millions of participants, a variety of tutorials, and free access to how-to guides and videos, this one is definitely worth trying out.

3. Code School As the name implies, Code School (www.codeschool.com) is where you

go to learn coding, programming, and related skills. This resource is unique in the way it provides "paths." Each path is focused on specific skills related to a particular programming language, such as: • Ruby • HTML/CSS • JavaScript

4. Free Code Camp Free Code Camp (www. freecodecamp.com) offers a unique way of learning to code, by doing some social good, too. It teaches students basic and advanced techniques by building projects for nonprofits. Its four-step process includes: • Joining a community of motivated students (and professionals) • Working together to tackle coding challenges • Building apps • Powering nonprofits by providing code

6. Code Conquest For many, the first step into the world of coding is the most challenging. Code Conquest (www. codeconquest.com) offers a free online guide for beginners, to help you ease into it. Through this free guide, you can: • Learn the basics of coding • Complete free coding tutorials • Learn how to use a particular coding language • Select the coding training that is best for you

7. TheCodePlayer TheCodePlayer

(http://

shows you detailed presentations that outline how others have built websites and apps, among other things, from scratch. Each lesson comes complete with a video and in-depth description.There's plenty more not listed here--search around to see coding boot camps in your local area!. 

thecodeplayer.com)

www.inc.com/larry-kim/9-placesyou-can-learn-how-to-code-forfree.html www.inc.com/larry-kim/7-moreplaces-tolearn-tocode-forfree.html

39  June 2016  Black Business News  www.blackbbusinessnews.net  1-323-291-7819

U.S. DOT Approves Flights to Cuba Cities

By Michael B. Baker

T

he U.S. Department of Transportation approved six airlines to begin flights to Cuba, though it still has not decided which carriers will receive the highly sought-after slots to Havana.

American Airlines, JetBlue Airways, Southwest Airlines, Frontier Airlines, Silver Airways and Sun Country Airlines all can begin scheduled service between the United States and Cuba this fall. The carriers will serve nine Cuban cities from five U.S. cities: Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Chicago, Minneapolis/St. Paul and Philadelphia, according to the department.

American plans to begin flights between Miami and five Cuban cities—Camagüey, Cienfuegos, Holguín, Santa Clara and Varadero—in September. JetBlue will operate flights between Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport and Santa Clara, Camagüey and Holguín and plans to begin selling tickets this summer.

Southwest also plans service from Fort Lauderdale to Varadero and Santa Clara "later this year," according to a statement from the carrier.

The DOT will award 20 daily slots to Havana this summer; nearly all major U.S. carriers filed to compete for those slots.

Travel to Cuba from the United States remains restricted to specific reasons other than tourism, including professional research and meetings and select export transactions. U.S. hotel companies also have begun expansion into the nation, which could provide more options for buyers already managing travel to Cuba.

"It has always been a challenge to manage it because the government has a lot of involvement in the hotels and all the services," Silvia Dreyfus, Ericsson's sourcing category manager in Panama, said during an education session at an Association of Corporate Travel Executives conference in April. "We are facing challenges today to book rooms. There are no rooms available, and the prices have increased 30 percent year over year and will continue to rise." 

www.facebook.com/pages/Los-Angeles-Worlds-Fair/543396465697684

www.laworldsfair.org 40  June 2016  Black Business News  www.blackbbusinessnews.net  1-323-291-7819

Business

Army Officer from DC wins Miss USA Beauty Pageant

By Sally Ho

T

he newly crowned Miss USA is a 26-year-old Army officer from the District of Columbia who gave perhaps the strongest answer of the night when asked about women in combat.

"As a woman in the United States Army, I think ... we are just as tough as men. As a commander of my unit, I'm powerful, I am dedicated," Deshauna Barber said.

"Gender does not limit us in the United States."

As the winner of Sunday's 2016 Miss USA competition held at the T-Mobile Arena off the Las Vegas Strip, Barber will go on to compete in the Miss Universe contest.. http://www.msn.com/en-us/entertainment/news/army-officer-fromdc-wins-miss-usa-beauty-pageant/ar-BBtTd3A?li=BBnb7Kz&ocid =mailsignout

41  June 2016  Black Business News  www.blackbbusinessnews.net  1-323-291-7819

Business

America's top Africa diplomat bullish on the continent

By Ann M. Simmons

P

olitical turmoil, civil unrest and food insecurity are among the myriad challenges burdening Africa, creating a sometimes uninviting environment for foreign investment, political partnerships and travel.

career foreign service officer that has included an ambassadorship to Liberia, and postings in Kenya, Gambia and Nigeria, she remains optimistic about the continent’s future.

“Africa is on the rise. Africa has

The interview has been edited for length and clarity.

To what extent is the U.S. playing catch-up when it comes to trade and investment in Africa?

I absolutely disagree that we’re playing catch-up. We have been on the African continent since the beginning. In many countries we were among the first countries to recognize the independence of African countries and American companies were there at the start. I would argue just the opposite, that other countries are playing catchup and they are playing catch-up at full speed. But we have always been engaged in Africa. We’ve been investing in Africa and we have been committed to Africa.

Why exactly should American businesspeople want to invest in Africa given the many challenges that exist on the continent?

They should invest in Africa because there are missed opportunities. Why do businesses invest? They invest to make money. There are opportunities to make money in Africa. [The continent] has tremendous resources. The greatest resource is the people, but they also have natural resources that companies should be interested in investing in and producing.

In March 2016, Assistant Secretary of State Linda ThomasGreenfield speaks on the evolution of the U.S.-Nigerian partnership before bilateral talks. (U.S. Institute of Peace via U.S. Department of State) In her role as Assistant Secretary of State leading the Bureau of African Affairs, Linda ThomasGreenfield has to navigate a minefield of tough issues. But with more than three decades as a

extraordinary potential,” ThomasGreenfield during a recent interview with The Times, in which she shared some of her views on U.S.Africa relations and her vision for the continent.

How important is the continent’s powerhouse, Nigeria, to the United States and how do you define the partnership between the two countries?

We have a very close and deliberate partnership with Nigeria.

Why? Nigeria is the largest country on the continent, the largest population, they have the largest economy on the continent and Nigeria is a leader. We want to

42  June 2016  Black Business News  www.blackbbusinessnews.net  1-323-291-7819

partner and engage with Nigeria, not just to work with them on issues that are important to Nigeria, but to work with them on issues that are important to the region. Nigeria is an example to the rest of the continent.

The recent election said everything to Africa and the world that Nigeria was ready to play at the top of its game.

How specifically is the U.S. helping Nigeria in terms of combating terrorism and extremism?

We are working very closely with them on this issue. We have directly provided training to battalions of their soldiers to help them in preparing to fight [the Islamist militant group] Boko

we have worked very closely with the government to ensure that they are aware of our concerns about allegations of human rights violations by their military and by other members of their government.

We will not train any military units that have allegations of human rights violations connected to them.

And we look very closely at the equipment that we are providing to ensure that it cannot be used in a way that will harm communities.

A year ago the Nigerian government had requested Cobras [attack helicopters] and we decided that we would not provide them.

So we are conscious about human rights. But we also know that we have to work with the Nigerians because they are dealing with a

President Buhari of Nigeria and President Obama of USA Haram. We have been providing information sharing ... on intel related to Boko Haram. We have provided equipment and capacity building. We are also working in the humanitarian sector to ensure that people who are in need are getting the necessities for maintaining a standard of living.

To what extent does the U.S. link its assistance to Nigeria to the government’s human rights record?

Human rights are for us a core value. It plays in everything we do on the continent of Africa. So

devastating terrorist organization.

Corruption permeates every level of Nigerian society. How is the U.S. holding Nigeria’s feet to the fire when it comes to tackling corruption?

President [Muhammadu] Buhari [of Nigeria], when he was elected last year, announced that he had three major priorities at the start.

One was to address the issues of the economy, the second was to address the issue of terrorism, and the third was to deal with corruption.

And he has been very aggressive

in his approach to corruption, and we have been equally aggressive in stating that we will not accept, or in any way allow for, corrupt officials to get support from the U.S. government. So for us, corruption is at the top of our agenda.

But I will say that corruption is not synonymous with Africa. Corruption exists in other countries in the world and it has the same devastating impact.

How big a priority is the resettlement of African refugees for the Obama administration?

We have a very generous program to bring African refugees to the United States. And many of those refugees within the second generation are in the middle class.

They do quite well in the United States. So it’s been extraordinarily sad for me to hear all the negative press we’re hearing about refugees.

The program is well-organized.

Refugees are vetted thoroughly.

And refugees, when they come to the United States, contribute to our society and we need to continue to recognize that part of our refugee program, whether it’s African refugees or refugees from other parts of the world.

What’s your long-term prognosis for Africa?

I am an eternal optimist. You see all the signs. And the biggest sign in Africa are their young people, who are extraordinarily ambitious. They are engaged and they want to see their continent improve.

We have a program in the U.S. government, the Young African Leaders Initiative … where a thousand young Africans come to the United States and spend five weeks of intense leadership training. And every time I meet those young people my optimism rises for Africa. 

43  June 2016  Black Business News  www.blackbbusinessnews.net  1-323-291-7819

www.state.gov

! " " # $ ! % &' () * + ! + ! ' $ "' ( ! , !& ,

! ! " # ! ! ( % ) * * + , ) -( -*

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45  June 2016  Black Business News  www.blackbbusinessnews.net  1-323-291-7819

46  June 2016  Black Business News  www.blackbbusinessnews.net  1-323-291-7819

Generate Success at Frankfurt Book Fair October 19 – 23, 2016ȱ

ȱȱȱȱȱȱ

ȱȱȱȱȱȱ ȱ

Frankfurt Book Fair (FBF) is the world’s largest trade show for the publishing industry and takes place October 19 Ͳ 23, 2016 at the “Messegelände” (the Trade Fair Grounds) in Frankfurt, Germany ͲͲ with a focus on promoting books, digital content, magazines, and exporting and licensing rights.

Special Offerings from the U.S. Commercial Service:

x x x

FRANKFURT BOOK FAIR 2016 is an excellent

PLATINUM KEY SERVICE FOR U.S. PUBLISHERS

opportunity for U.S. publishers, agents, content providers and publishing service providers to promote their products & digital content, meet with buyers & distributors from Europe and throughout the world.

x x x

APPLICATION DEADLINE

JULY 14TH x x x

The PLATINUM KEY is a program tailored to your INTERNATIONAL PUBLISHING & LICENSING needs at FBF. It

is a fee based service offered exclusively to U.S. companies, designed to provide customized targeted solutions.

http://www.buchmesse.de/en/

FRANKFURT BOOK FAIR 2016 FOCUS

x x x

x

x

x

x x

Children’s and Young Adult Literature, NonͲFiction and Art Books, Photography and Film STM & Academic Publishing, Specialist Information, Education SelfͲPublishing and "Rights and Licenses" (get to know the world of literary and licensing agents) Frankfurt Book Fair Academy Netherland and Flanders are the Guest of Honor in 2016!

Platinum Key Registration is due July 14th Questions? Please contact:

Peter Sexton in the U.S. at: peter.sexton@trade.gov or Ulrike Riegeler, Trade Specialist in Frankfurt, DE: Ulrike.riegeler@trade.gov

REGISTRATION & LINKS to U.S. Commercial Service Germany:

ADDITIONAL VALUEͲADDED SERVICES OFFERED BY THE U.S. COMMERCIAL SERVICE TO U.S. EXHIBITORS: x x

x

Qualified Contact Lists Customized Counseling on Global Markets (by U.S. Commercial Service Trade Specialists from U.S. Embassies & Consulates) International Promotion Program (Highlight YOUR Company to International Buyers attending FBF).

http://export.gov/germany/Trad eShowsEvents/FeaturedGermanT radeShows/eg_de_080076.asp

The International Trade Administration (ITA)’s U.S. Commercial Service at the U.S. Department of Commerce, strengthens the competitiveness of U.S. industry, promotes trade and investment, and ensures fair trade through the rigorous enforcement of our trade laws and agreements. ITA supports President Obama's recovery agenda and the National Export Initiative to sustain economic growth and support American jobs. www.trade.gov

A

re you a Small Business interested in selling your product or services to Metro or to Prime Contractors that do business with Metro? Would you like to learn how to win contracts as a Prime Contractor through SB Prime, Metro's exciting set-aside initiative? If so, we invite you to come grow with us and learn about Metro Connect.

Start now and register for a How to Do Business with Metro Workshop. Metro staff will show you how to take advantage of the vast array of products, services and transportation related opportunities projected over the coming weeks, months and year. As an added bonus, Metro's procurement staff will host informal interviews with firms before the workshop, starting at 9:00 a.m.

Tuesday, July 12, 2016 8:30 a.m.: Registration 9:00 a.m. - 9:30 a.m.: One-on-One with Contract Administrators and Continental Breakfast 9:30 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.: Program

Metro Headquarters 3rd Floor, Board Room, One Gateway Plaza, Los Angeles, CA 90012

Topics: Highway Project Update, Procurement Update, Certification Update, Small Business Prime Update, LA SAFE/511 Next Generation Update To learn more about how Metro Connect's Small and Disadvantaged Business Certifications can help open the door to contracting opportunities with Metro visit Metro Vendor Portal.

For further questions, please contact Marisela Villar at VillarM@metro.net or via phone at 213.922.2235.

48  June 2016  Black Business News  www.blackbbusinessnews.net  1-323-291-7819

Quote of Note “…And as I think about what you’re doing here in this hall, I’d add a corollary to that observation.

If you could choose any place and time to invest your business’s precious resources, I believe you’d choose right here, right now. If you choose a place to expand your portfolio, to place your bets, to open up a plant, to start building the next great new business or service, you would select the USA -– because nowhere in the world and never in history has there been a better place to grow your business.”

Barack Obama

51  June 2016  Black Business News  www.blackbbusinessnews.net  1-323-291-7819

Retiree Confidence on the Rise, EBRI Finds

W

hile retirement confidence among U.S. workers appears to be stabilizing, confidence among today's retirees continues to climb, finds the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) in its latest Retirement Confidence Survey.

Workers who said they were "very confident" in their ability to afford a comfortable retirement rose from 13% in 2013 to 22% last year. In 2016, that percentage leveled off at 21%. However, the percentage of retirees who are "very confident" continued to rise in 2016 to 39%, up from 18% in 2013.

Historically, retiree confidence has exceeded worker confidence, said the report.

Worker perceptions vs. retiree realities Each year, the study reveals findings that compare worker expectations and perceptions with the actual experiences of current retirees. For example: • While 78% of workers are at least "somewhat confident" that they will have enough money to afford basic expenses in retirement, an even higher percentage (84%) of current retirees feel that way. An even sharper contrast emerges when considering the affordability of medical expenses. Thirty-eight percent of workers say they are "not too" or "not at all confident" in their prospects for funding medical care, while just 21% of retirees share that level of concern.

• The age at which workers expect to retire has crept upward through the years, while the actual retirement age for retired respondents has changed very little. In 1991, just 11% of workers said they expected to retire after age 65. In 2016, the percentage increased to 37%.

By comparison, the actual percentage of retirees who retired after age 65 was 8% in 1991 and rose to 15% in 2016. The median age at which retirees said they retired held steady at age 62 throughout the 25-year period.

• Only 8% of today's workers said they plan to retire 38% of retirees say their current expenses are "somewhat higher" or "much higher" than before age 60, yet they expected when they first retired, while the same percentage said their expenses are 36% of today's retirees left the workforce "about the same" as they expected 52  June 2016  Black Business News  www.blackbbusinessnews.net  1-323-291-7819

before reaching that age. Why the difference? The study's authors said that each year they discover a sizable percentage of retirees who retire earlier than planned--46% in 2016. Reasons cited include health problems or disability (55%), changes at their company such as downsizing or closure (24%), and having to care for a family member (17%).

Despite these findings, workers can take heart knowing that today's retirees feel more confident than in past years, and in knowing that the years ahead offer time to modify their retirement planning strategies if necessary.

About the survey The 26th annual Retirement Confidence Survey was cosponsored by EBRI, a private, nonprofit, nonpartisan public policy research organization that focuses on health, savings, retirement, and economic security issues; and Greenwald & Associates, a Washington, DC-based market research firm. The survey was conducted in January and February 2016 through 20-minute telephone interviews with 1,505 people, including 1,000 workers and 505 retirees. Full results can be viewed at ebri.org. FWR IMPORTANT DISCLOSURES Regina L. Faison *Wealth Manager/Registered Principal Faison Wealth & Retirement Services C/O Woodbury Financial Services 3070 Bristol Suite 500, Costa Mesa, CA 92626 Office Direct -949-200-8212 * Efax - 949-556-9806 * Regina cell - 714-329-7184 Customer Service Email- service@faisonwealth.com Ph# - 949-939-1194 Website - http://faisonwealth.com "Helping businesses and individuals achieve their life goals" *Securities and Investment Advisory Services offered through Woodbury Financial Services, Inc., Member FINRA, SIPC and Registered Investment Advisor. Woodbury Financial Services P.O. Box 64284*St. Paul, MN 55164*-800-800-2638. Insurance offered through Faison Wealth and Retirement Services is not affiliated with Woodbury Financial Services, Inc. Faison Wealth and Retirement Services and Woodbury Financial are not affiliated entities.

Faison Wealth & Retirement Regina Faison Wealth Manager/Registered Principal* 3070 Bristol Street Suite 500 Costa Mesa, CA 92626 949-200-8212 714-329-7184 regina@faisonwealth.com www.faisonwealth.com

53  June 2016  Black Business News  www.blackbbusinessnews.net  1-323-291-7819

Editorial

Thinking Forward and the Gig Economy

By Jonathan Ortmans

H

arvard economist Lawrence Katz and Princeton’s Alan B. Krueger found that the number of Americans with alternative work arrangements rose 9.4 million from February 2005 to November 2015. That was greater than the rise in overall employment, meaning there was a small net decline (0.3%) in the number of workers with conventional jobs from 2005 to 2015.

I presumed that it was the Ubertype, disruptive companies driving this 50% jump in the so-called on-demand gig-economy. The available data – although a small sample size – suggested otherwise.

The Katz-Krueger report “The Rise and Nature of Alternative Work Arrangements in the United States, 1995-2015” defines workers engaged in “alternative work arrangements” as those whose main economic activity are as on-call workers, temporary help agency workers, contract workers, and independent contractors or freelancers. Among these, the fastest growing group is contracted workers.

This helped provide an answer.

Workers who provide services through online intermediaries, such as Uber or TaskRabbit, actually only accounted for 0.5% of the labor force in 2015, according to the report. The online gig workforce is thus relatively small compared to other forms of alternative work arrangements.

However the online gig workforce is growing very rapidly. For example, the Intuit 2020 Report argues that more than 40% of the workforce will be “alternative workers” by 2020.

According to several experts, the gig-economy was intended to

supplement rather than replace workers’ income. However, the striking implication of Katz and Krueger estimates is that, essentially, all of the net employment growth in the U.S. economy from 2005 to 2015 appears to have occurred in alternative work arrangements. This raises worker protection concerns and regulatory challenges.

But neither the weak economy nor the sharing economy are the only factors driving the shift from traditional 9-to-5 jobs to independent work. There are many other non-economic factors at play.

The World Economic Forum’s “The Future of Jobs” report, for example, identifies and weighs 18 different drivers of change in the workforce, concluding that in combination, “technological, socio-economic, geopolitical and demographic developments and the interactions between them will generate new categories of jobs and occupations while partly or wholly displacing others.”

Should we be worried about these forecasts of a growing gig-economy? On the contrary.

Technology has already opened new paths for individuals to drive their own destinies that are irreversible, giving us no choice but to think ahead of the trend and leverage it for all it is worth to workers and our economies alike.

Here is why.

Facilitating worker retraining and experiential entrepreneurship education Demand for self-driven, skilled specialists is on the rise, posing challenges for worker re-training.

Our traditional approach as a society has been expensive publically

funded traditional worker retraining programs that are often out of date before the curriculum is rolled out. The gig-economy breaks that challenge into bite-sized pieces, allowing workers to learn and try this and that, taking a less daunting, step-by-step approach to developing new skills.

With the right motivation and vision, independent workers can more safely find their passion and learn needed related skills. They don’t have to wait to finish one job to start on the next. Furthermore, independent work allows people to acquire new skill sets while maintaining a work-life balance.

The gig-economy puts learning on the job on steroids and lets workers more easily validate – or dismiss – different types of work, measured against personal priorities whether enjoyment, success or simply doing something that matters to them.

Best of all, being their own boss exposes individuals to the essence of entrepreneurship and warms them to the notion of calculated risk-taking, which they may then choose to fully embrace, take as a skill to an established business, or for many avoid at all costs.

Worker fluidity drives ecosystem vibrancy From an ecosystem perspective, fluidity enables talent to recombine in a way that leads to more idea generation and better idea execution. As such, fluidity is a measure of the vibrancy of an entrepreneurship ecosystem.

54  June 2016  Black Business News  www.blackbbusinessnews.net  1-323-291-7819

Several factors influence the level of an ecosystem’s fluidity, such as the ability of individuals to freely decide their line of work, move between jobs, relocate to a new job market or even start a new business.

Gig-economy style independence fuels fluidity.

Despite the apparent growth and lure of the gigeconomy, there are still several regulations in place that hold potential entrepreneurs back from leaving stable jobs, such as occupational licensing and burdensome discharge laws. All these make job changes less frequent.

In short, to remain globally competitive, American policymakers should embrace the gig-economy rather than being discouraged by it and focus on immediate ways to remove barriers to increasing productivity through increased fluidity.

Forcing established business to be more like a startup In many industries, it has long been assumed that fair pay, career stability and a sense of prestige from belonging to a corporation would be enough to retain talent.

However, Millennials are not driven by what motivated their parents.

It is not only the options of the location of work that are proliferating due to technologies, but also the times and ways our citizens are working. According to PwC’s “NextGen: A global generational study,” newer generations value greater flexibility, team collaboration and global opportunities.

Team collaboration is no longer restricted to face-to-face

interactions. Online platforms like Slack are enabling cross-border collaboration. All this is making corporate leaders rethink their value proposition to young talent. In fact, many companies are already locating different job functions in different geographic locations to take advantage of the specific strengths of particular local labor markets, as the WEF report points out.

What the gig-economy means for policymaking Of all the reasons we should not be afraid of the gig-economy, what stands out the most is the increase in opportunities for individuals to find their passion. The Millennial generation has led us out of a polarized period when we were invited to either honor our values by doing meaningful non-profit or public service work or sell out to meaningless “money” jobs often for institutions with different values.

Millennials have heralded a new “do good and do well” era, where meaningful work does not have to be at the expense of financial security or success.

The challenge for policymakers and ecosystem builders is turning the momentum towards solopreneurship into a chance for more scalable businesses that can generate jobs – or gigs – for others and bring more innovations to market for the benefit of all. This is after all why policymakers laud entrepreneurs as the makers and doers of things who tolerate the messy process of creating new innovations in an effort to improve lives, make work and create new economic value.

The changing nature of the labor market enables us to rethink how work is structured and rewarded.

Finding policy solutions that support entrepreneurial independent workers can provide broad benefits to workers and the economy. The

Affordable Care Act has made health insurance more easily within reach for independent contractors ending a long-standing accidental societal arrangement where employers helped out workers by providing employer sponsored health insurance.

Perhaps it is time to update similar employment dependent social safety nets, such as paid sick leave, parental leave, employerprovided matching retirement account contributions or retirement security, and disability insurance.

The changing nature of the workforce should not be viewed as apocalyptic, but leveraged in the interests of workers and economic value creation. As the World Economic Forum’s The Future of Jobs report states, “past waves of technological advancement and demographic change have led to increased prosperity, productivity and job creation. This does not mean, however, that these transitions were free of risk or difficulty.”

Ultimately we must remember that we made up the rules that organize the workforce in our society, and that we are free to update them again for the Information Age. The regulatory battles of the likes of Uber and Airbnb’s are just the tip of the iceberg in a new demand driven economy where we will see almost all traditional industry business models disrupted over the next few years. Policymakers can either plan ahead for it now, anticipating change and capitalizing of its benefits, or make policy when technology delivers the challenges in the wake of innovation.  www.kauffman.org/blogs/policydialogue/2016/june/thinkingforward-and-the-gig-economy?utm_ source=newsletter&utm_ medium=email&utm_ campaign=pde2016-06-06&_cldee=b Glvbi5jb21tQGhvdG1haWwuY29t

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Business

The State Trade and Export Promotion Program (STEP)

Welcome to More.

S

TEP is designed to increase the number of small businesses that are exporting by offsetting the international marketing cost.

Established in 1989, the California Centers for International Trade Development (CITD) are funded by the Chancellor’s Office of the State of California to promote the state’s international trade and competitiveness, assist exporters and importers, and advance economic and job growth. The CITDs assist California business to expand internationally as well as help colleges become more globalized.

The California CITDs have offices across the state and provide a full range of trade assistance services to companies and individuals in the state of California. All services are either free or low cost.

Whether you are new or experienced in export or import, small or large, CITD has experts and resources ready to help you. Our free or lowcost programs and services include one-on-one technical assistance and consulting, market research, training and educational programs, trade leads and special events.

The CITD is a place to learn about international matchmaking events and other programs taking place both in California and abroad.

To learn more about the program visit http://citd.org. 

Open the door to a hotel you don’t just visit. You own it.

Choice Hotels® is committed to achieving more diversity in hospitality with exclusive incentive programs designed to reduce up front costs and provide more support to minority hotel developers. And our commitment doesn’t stop there.

Choice Hotels promotes and pursues diversity at all levels, ranging from our workforce to our hotel guests, from our suppliers to entrepreneurs looking to create wealth. Like you.

Open the door to hotel ownership opportunities with Choice Hotels. Because you’re not in business for less.

You’re in it for more. www.choicehotelsdevelopment.com/#&panel1-2

60  June 2016  Black Business News  www.blackbbusinessnews.net  1-323-291-7819

Sway Vodka

From http://officialblackwallstreet.com/ F black-owned-wine-spirit-brands/

T

he Sway Vodka Revolution originated in 2012.

Our five times distilled vodka is fashioned to make you revel in the smooth clean tasting sweetness.

Our corn based vodka is filtered five times through lava rock from the Cascade Volcanoes that are located in the northern parts of the United States. Our vodka is handcrafted in small batches and is also Gluten Free.

You are about to experience an astonishing brilliant tasting spirit.

Our Vision is to create a vodka that everyone could enjoy. Our gluten free vodka is made with the finest ingredients giving it the smooth, fresh taste that vodka drinkers look for. Handcrafted in small batches ensures that our drinkers get the best quality possible. Owned by husband/wife duo David and Meia Dunn.

Sway vodka, not an ordinary vodka, it’s a way of life. 

http://officialblackwallstreet.com/item/sway-vodka

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Business

EBONY's New Owners Set Sights on E

By Madison J. Gray

F

or Michael Gibson and Willard Jackson everything they needed was in place.

• Seven decades as a vanguard for the African American community? Check.

• A media company equipped with the staff and management they wanted? Check.

• Positioning to take advantage of emerging digital platforms for growth? Check.

So when their company, the Austin, Tex.-based Clear View Group LLC acquired EBONY Magazine, EBONY.com, and JETMag.com in May, 2016 the decision was a no-brainer.

“EBONY’s always been a part of our families, so it had always been an attraction,” said Gibson, 59, who serves as board chair of the new Ebony Media company. “But this opportunity was introduced to us…and it didn’t take us very long to make the decision that this was something unique, it’s the most iconic image in the African American community and it’s a platform that we think is really important for us and all of our community.”

Last week Johnson Publishing Company, which had published EBONY since 1945 and JET since 1951, announced the acquisition for an undisclosed amount by Clear View, a firm formed by Gibson and Jackson in 2015 that specializes in private equity acquisitions, according to its website. Ebony Media is its first foray into print and digital publishing. The two partners each hold a 50 percent stake in the

company.

The acquisition of the EBONY properties by Clear View also keeps it in African American hands as it expects to add staffing companies, media and transportation to its portfolio Gibson said.

“It’s important to point out that we view our strength as raising capital and networking and really bringing

partners say.

“We are not the operators of these different companies,” said Gibson, who is managing partner of Advantis Certified Staffing Solutions. “They’ll continue to be operated by the management teams that run the companies.”

To begin with, Linda Johnson Rice, who served as Chairman of

other opportunities to the table for our portfolio company.”

The intention all along was to acquire a company with an existing management team that could move Clear View’s goals forward, the

Johnson Publishing company will sit on the board of Ebony Media as Chairman Emeritus. Cheryl Mayberry McKissack serves as the CEO of the new company and Kyra Kyles, who led the company’s

66  June 2016  Black Business News  www.blackbbusinessnews.net  1-323-291-7819

Expansion

digital operation before, takes over as EBONY’s Editor-in-Chief and SVP Digital Editorial.

But Clear View is looking for the new company to transform into what they hope will be a “multimedia platform,” that includes the existing

print and digital operations as well as the possibility of expanded digital space and even broadcast as well.

“We see bringing additional programs, activations, events, content…to further satisfy what

we think is a need out there for African American content,” said Jackson, 52, Clear View’s vice-chairman and also board chairman and CEO of Offisol, a management consulting and staffing company which he founded. “Whether it’s healthcare or education related, we want to offer different ways to provide content to the existing readership. We see really expanding the digital platform.”

But that’s challenging in an age where competition for African American readership and content consumption is so fierce. For much of EBONY’s existence, the magazine was the only one in the marketplace targeted at Blacks. In 2016, the choices – print and digital -- for readers are virtually endless.

Jackson, however says the company has one significant advantage.

“We’re the number one African American brand in the world,” he

explained. “It’s the power of the brand that we think sets us apart from all those other sites and digital platforms. We also start off with a very loyal following, readership who has been following EBONY Magazine since its inception. With those two components, it sets us apart.”

The partners say that because the publications will remain in African American hands means that they can continue be an authentic voice for the Black community, but that also means an expansion of that voice.

Gibson said he and Jackson feel Ebony Media is in a good place to grow, despite any challenges.

“We have a reach of over 1.25 million subscribers a month, that’s more than any other (Black targeted) magazine that’s out there,” he said. He also said expanding on events like EBONY’s Power 100, strengthening both websites and adding more will help with profitability. “So it’s certainly something that’s already there that we can build on.”  www.ebony.com/career-finance/ ebony-media-owners#.V2l038_ uRDo.mailto

67  June 2016  Black Business News  www.blackbbusinessnews.net  1-323-291-7819

New App Aimed at Business Travelers Launched

By Kirsten Korosec

P

riceline.com founder and entrepreneur Jay Walker launched a new company that uses big data analytics, cloud computing, and a mobile app to turn flexibility into dollars for business travelers.

The premise of Upside is simple enough: Reward business travelers

with gift cards for being a little more flexible with their flight and hotel.

Upside is working with several database content owners such as Expedia and Sabre, which act as clearinghouses for fares and schedules for airlines, to access the massive inventory of flights and hotel rooms. Upside then reconstructs the database with a new layer of analytics that focuses on flexibility. Upside pulls this all together and packages it in a mobile app that is designed to quickly

the Upside mobile app to buy a flight and hotel package he or she can expect to get $100 to $200 in free gift cards, and international travelers will typically get twice as much, Walker says. Costs will be reduced between 5% and 15% for the business traveler’s company as well, according to Upside.

Users can also apply the value of the gift card to reduce the cost of their flight or hotel, a feature Walker says will be particularly appealing for individuals who own small businesses.

A $35 service fee is applied every time the business traveler books a package through the app. The service fee provides users with 24hour customer service. Users can only book travel originating in the United States.

Become a VIP Traveler The company will open up a beta version mobile app in mid-

found at the grocery checkout line.

These are e-gift cards, which are downloaded to the user’s mobile phone a couple of days after he or she buys a travel package on the app. Walker wasn’t ready to name which gift cards will be offered; however, he did say Upside is working with Blackhawk, one of the largest gift card suppliers in the United States.

Walker, who is chairman of research and development firm Walker Digital, believes every business traveler is going to want to see what his or her flexibility is worth.

“Why wouldn’t you want to know if it only take a couple of minutes and it’s sort of fun to see what it’s really worth?” Walker asks.

Upside’s target market is small and medium businesses, not the big, highly managed Fortune 500 companies, Walker says. And while the seasoned “road warrior” will certainly benefit from using Upside, Walker says the core customers will likely be people who travel domestically four to six times a year or twice a year internationally.

Promise of this Platform

show business travelers what their flexibility is worth by answering a few simple questions.

For instance, a business traveler might earn a gift card for staying at a hotel that’s farther away from a convention center or taking a flight that leaves 30 minutes earlier.

When a business traveler uses

September to business travelers who sign up as VIPs, starting now.

All VIPs will receive a guaranteed $150 minimum in free gift cards for every Upside package purchased this year.

Upside will initially launch with 30 to 50 different gift cards. These will not be the physical gift cards

The real promise in Upside is the company’s flexibility platform, or engine, which can work in other industries too, including healthcare and consumer products, Walker says.

“It works in anything where there’s an extremely complex, everchanging data set and where only you know what your elasticity tradeoffs are worth to you.” http://fortune.com/2016/06/21/ priceline-jay-walkerupside/?t=head

71  June 2016  Black Business News  www.blackbbusinessnews.net  1-323-291-7819

Editorial

I'm a Black Natural-Haired Woman, I Travel and I'm Tired of Microagressions

by K.E. Garland

P

ost-9/11 flights have been the same for me. Take my laptop out. Keep my tablet packed. Remove my shoes and squeeze plastic boxes together, just enough to keep pace and not annoy the hurried passenger behind me.

But November 18th was different.

Paris had just been attacked and threats of terrorism lingered. I stood hip-width apart with my hands outstretched like a suspected criminal. Other passengers did the same. Security for those who stood before me ended there.

My curly, medium-sized, poofy fro meant more scanning.

The more included standing in my socks, vulnerable and a bit exposed as a TSA security officer checked my hair. I wasn’t hiding a bomb or other weapon of mass destruction among my locks, so the officer granted me permission to re-dress and head to the gate.

Afterwards, I sat at the Jacksonville International Airport conflicted. Can someone really check my hair? Am I overreacting?

The answer is yes and no.

The American Civil Liberties Union has a role in protecting citizens’ civil rights. This includes racial profiling, which is illegal, even at the airport. The ACLU of Northern California further explains that “Both the United States and California Constitutions prohibit unreasonable searches and selective enforcement of the law based on race.” This is becoming common knowledge due to one woman’s recent airport experience.

After two separate hair pat downs, Dr. Malaika Singleton, an African

American neurosurgeon filed an ACLU Civil Rights complaint. As a result, Northern California’s TSA resolved to retrain its officers.

Consequently, TSA had promised to “stop searching black women’s hair for drugs and weapons.”

Even though the ACLU’s statement is clear and TSA’s response is noble, rules about hair pat downs are ambiguous. It seems that hair can be searched if the scalp cannot be seen with a body scan or if security officers detect an object. Additionally, the TSA response I received indicates “travelers processed through TSA checkpoints may undergo additional screening of their clothing, hair, or headwear—where dangerous items are able to be hidden.” However, they assured me that profiling isn’t tolerated. Basically, TSA can conduct a hair pat down if they want to, but discrimination is illegal. The thing is if your hair is thick and curly like mine, then a hair pat down can become as routine as removing shoes. Furthermore, many natural styles lend themselves to these searches. So where does one draw the line between protecting all American passengers and treating one group as perpetual suspects?

Here is where national participation is crucial.

We have to speak up. As I sat there posting to social media and re-packing my belongings, I noticed that other passengers’ hair were not searched. Of course, I could’ve just laughed off the incident or ignored it. But what good would that do?

How is change effected if I remain silent? Using our voice is one way

TSA will continue to be aware of the unusual amount of black women that undergo hair searches, ultimately helping them to live up to their own declaration to “stop searching black women’s hair.”

If a TSA officer says she needs to check your hair, comply then complain. Formal complaints can be filed through TSA’s website. Be sure to select “civil rights” as your option. A separate grievance should be filed with your state’s ACLU. Look for an email confirmation shortly thereafter. Expect a follow up within weeks. Life as an African American female is challenging enough without adding microagressions to an already stressful airport experience. There’s strength in numbers and speaking out about your own encounter is the first step to ensuring that our collective civil rights are protected.  http://www.forharriet.com/2016/02/imblack-natural-haired-woman-i-travel. html#axzz4AAA9OM9a

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Business

Fairness for Black Travelers

By Laura W. Murphy

Y

ou learn a lot about the character of an organization when things go wrong.

For the team at Airbnb, hearing the outcry from African American travelers who were denied lodging because of discrimination was one of these moments. I know, because I met with them in San Francisco in early June to discuss this challenge.

Everyone I spoke with, including CEO Brian Chesky, Airbnb’s legal, engineering and policy team, and the leadership of the Black employees group, made clear that they are willing to do all they can to tackle this problem. What they said to me in private matches what they’ve said in public: Airbnb has zero tolerance for bias or racial discrimination.

After spending more than four decades fighting for equality at the ACLU and in other organizations, I’ve seen companies pay lip service to these issues before. But Airbnb leaders have shown a willingness to be transparent and have expressed to me a sincere desire to ensure that its policies, technology and platform are not facilitating discrimination. Towards that end, Airbnb has hired me to help them lead a 90-day review process to address discrimination issues. In working with them, I plan to hold them accountable.

I will begin that process by spending the summer meeting with technology experts, civil rights leaders, housing advocates and members of the Airbnb community to solicit their ideas. Those conversations will be guided by three principles and objectives.

The first is identifying and fixing

structural problems with the platform. Airbnb should be less focused on fixing oneoff examples of individual discrimination than on understanding how the platform and underlying technology itself may contribute to possible systemic problems. Airbnb has already tapped its best engineers and product team members to lead this effort, and I’m excited to work with them to make real improvements.

The second step is to improve its processes so it can rapidly identify racial discrimination and deal with these matters quickly and decisively.

That includes putting in policies and processes that will set the model for the industry and which will reflect the company’s commitment to fighting discrimination and acting quickly if something goes wrong. It will be important for Airbnb, like any company committed to taking on this issue, to continually educate staff and community so that the entire community understand these rules and processes so that responses are quick and appropriate.

Finally, Airbnb must build broader and enduring relationships with diverse travel, civil rights, grass roots, small business, social science and educational institutions. The brilliant staff at Airbnb cannot make its way in this increasingly diverse world, unless they are a more diverse company and are active in communities that will support them in this effort. One meeting in the middle of a crisis won’t do it. They need relationships with experts that last. Discrimination in the sharing economy is not going away anytime

soon, and if Airbnb wants to be in the forefront of tackling this problem it will be mutually beneficial to be a part of a sustained dialogue with individuals and organizations.

These steps are just the beginning. Airbnb understands that there’s no single solution to the problem of deeply entrenched biases and discrimination in the

travel industry or in our society as a whole. It will need to engage in an enduring effort to ensure that every single member of its community is treated equally. At its core, Airbnb is about helping people feel like they can belong anywhere, no matter who they are, what they look like, or where they’re from. They take that mission very seriously, and I will do whatever I can to help them to get it right.  http://www.afro.com/fairness-forblack-travelers/

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www.nubianskin.com/us

Sell Your Products & Services on

Black Business Association is joining forces with AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, and a number of other businesses and community organizations to help promote safe driving through

It Can Wait. http://itcanwait.com

FOR

Father's Day

OR ANY SPECIAL OCCASION

Business Technology:

Take A Look!

by LaSandra Stratton

C

heck out what these firms and organizations have to offer for your personal interests, personal wealth building, and business expansion opportunities.

Recharge (https://recharge.co)

N

eed a place to nap or shower in the city? Instantly book a luxury hotel room near you and pay by the minute.

There's no need to book in advance or to tell the hotel how long you plan to stay.

Your room is ready for you the moment you book – 24/7.

Stay for as long as you want, then tap check out when you’re ready to leave.

Recharge is currently available in San Francisco.

Recharge’s team created the service with business travelers in mind, who often need to take a break or catch up on work in between meetings. The idea is to appeal to customers who would normally balk at paying for an entire night when they only want a couple of hours of rest.

To book a room, customers open the app, pick from the available nearby hotels. When they arrive,

they check in at the front desk and head up to the room where they can shower, nap, make phone calls, and even use other hotel amenities like the gym.

On the hotels’ side, Recharge provides them with an app for checking in guests, as well as managing how many rooms they want to make available through the service at any given time. Accepting guests through Recharge is also fairly low hassle for hotels as they already have cleaning staff, and in most cases, a room only requires a “light turn”—an industry term for a less thorough cleaning.

Recharge is available on iTunes.

Compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. 

www.wyzerr.com At Wyzerr we’re committed to ushering in a world where providing customer feedback is fun, fast and easy—and the resulting data is actionable and intuitive.

Wyzerr businesses use Smartforms, the modern way to capture customer feedback.

Smartforms harness the power of artificial intelligence to take all of your customer feedback - the good, the bad, and the ugly - and recycle them into powerful insight to drive customer satisfaction, retention, and loyalty.

Wyzerr:

• Surveys look and feel like games • Can ask up to 25 questions in 60 seconds • Reaches customers at point of sale • Is built for the digital customer Your customers determine how successful your business will be so you should know as much about them as possible. What they like, don’t like, what they dream about, what makes them happy, sad, angry, and so forth. Wyzerr captures this type of data very well. It’s real, raw data that you can use to create targeted marketing messages, unlock hidden insights, develop better products, increase sales, and most importantly, reduce employee turnover. There’s no such thing as a perfect business but you can get closer to perfection by being a wiser business.

It’s a new way, a better way—the Wyzerr way. 

www.pollen.com

P

ollen.com provides allergy information and forecasts you can use everyday - free

80  June 2016  Black Business News  www.blackbbusinessnews.net  1-323-291-7819

on iPhone and Android devices.

If you suffer from allergies like hay fever, you need accurate, reliable, timely information that allows you to consistently manage your symptoms and take control of your life! Pollen.com is the revolutionary new online resource that provides you and all allergy sufferers with essential tools to do just that.

With reliable up-to-the-minute allergy forecasts that show the upcoming airborne allergen conditions in your local environment, Pollen.com prepares you for the g you y all the facts - at dayy byy offering

programming experience? No problem! The skills you learn in this beginning Nanodegree program will accelerate your journey to becoming a working Android Developer.

Learn the Java language, and start building amazing new apps for those billion (and counting!)

Android devices!

The average salary for Android app developers is $94K a year.

The salary range is $52K to $136K. 

http://traffickcam.org/ a glance! This is information that can help you maximize the quality of your life, and perhaps minimize visits to your physician or allergy specialist.

That's our mission here at Pollen. com. Improving your quality of life through timely and accurate information intended to assist all allergy sufferers. 

T

raffickCam enables you to help combat sex trafficking by uploading photos of the hotel rooms you stay in when you travel.

Traffickers regularly post

photographs of their victims posed in hotel rooms for online advertisements.

These photographs are evidence that can be used to find and prosecute the perpetrators of these crimes. In order to use these photos, however, investigators must be able to determine where the photos were taken.

The purpose of TraffickCam is to create a database of hotel room images that an investigator can efficiently search, in order to find other images that were taken in the same location as an image that is part of an investigation.

TraffickCam was created in 2015 by the Exchange Initiative which is committed to combating commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC). Their mission is to provide resources, information and networking solutions to combat sex trafficking in the United States.  Submitted by LaSandra Stratton, Chief Content Administrator of the Black Business News.

www.udacity.com

E

arn an Android Basics Nanodegree taught by Google staffers on the Udacity platform.

Android apps are everywhere, and learning to build them can be a fantastic career move. No

Coming to your e-mail box.

Read Back Issues at: https://issuu.com/blackbusinessnews

81  June 2016  Black Business News  www.blackbbusinessnews.net  1-323-291-7819

Business

Chance the Rapper: Marketing Genius or No?

By Melissa Ward

C

hance the Rapper has taken 2016 by storm, from his new album "Coloring Book" to launching his line of Chicago White Sox hats that sold out much to fans' dismay.

Hannah Abrams, senior content editor for Promotional Marketing — a sister brand to Target Marketing — took to her blog, Hannah's Misguided Musings, to look at his marketing strategy, and declared him to be a marketing genius based on the strides he's made in each of his business ventures.

hang them in their own cities. It was a massive hit as posters began appearing everywhere, including in Philadelphia. The posters cost $20 for a three pack, and he encouraged fans to post the photos on social media.

So basically, Chance the Rapper brought in a ton of revenue from selling these posters, and benefited from the subsequent guerrilla marketing. He didn't have to spend a dime on this free exposure, and there were advertisements for his new album everywhere.

1. Use Old-School Marketing

2. Make Merchandise Customizable

These days, when a movie is set to premiere, most marketing dollars are spent on social media marketing and hoping for Internet viral sensations. Leading up to the release of "Coloring Book," Chance the Rapper gave fans the chance to print posters online and

Chance the Rapper also took a different approach (http://magazine. promomarketing.com/article/rappersells-fully-customizable-merchandise)

to his promotional apparel. He allowed users to customize their T-shirts, sweatshirts and hats on his website (http://chanceraps. com/custom-merchandise). It didn't require in-depth personalization on the back-end, but prospective buyers could choose the shirt colors, design colors and the sizes they wanted for their gear.

Delivering this more "custom" experience left fans feeling like they had one-of-a-kind apparel that they were able to contribute to. Plus, it was in keeping with his "Coloring Book" theme.

3. Make Limited Edition Merchandise In a marketing move that had nothing to do with his new album, Chance the Rapper developed his own line of limited edition White Sox hats (http://m.mlb. com/cutfour/2016/04/07/170980006/

chance-the-rapper-designs-white-soxcaps).

The hats were available in three unique designs and were released in very limited quantities.

Unfortunately, the hats sold out in minutes with so much hype being generated that the hats were eventually going for hundreds on eBay.

4. Follow Your Gut Chance the Rapper is one of the few popular artists that has strayed away from signing to a major label.

He does everything independently, and therefore is able to basically do whatever he wants, in terms of his artistry. Without constantly needing to please an overbearing label, Chance the Rapper can follow his own marketing plan as well as his own album roll-out tactics.

Now, in terms of the promotional products business, being labelfree doesn't really apply. However, you should follow your gut when it comes to new products and giving your clients what they really want. Don't be scared to suggest something different that might set the client out of their comfort zones.

5. Host Surprise Events They say all press is good press.

Well, good press is the best press, and Chance the Rapper has only been getting good press. Hosting free, surprise events for the community definitely contributes to this good press.

At the last minute, Chance the Rapper informed fans that he would host a "Coloring Book" event in the city of Chicago. Nobody knew what to expect, and the event named, Magnificent Coloring World, was free to the public. The event received massive amounts of good press and it helped generate more buzz.  www.targetmarketingmag. com/article/chance-the-rappermarketing-genius-or-no/all/

82  June 2016  Black Business News  www.blackbbusinessnews.net  1-323-291-7819

Community/Public Interest

First Lady Michelle Obama to Travel to Liberia and Morocco As part of the Let Girls Learn initiative, the First Lady will make stops outside Monrovia and in Marrakech to highlight the US Government’s work to help adolescent girls go to school and stay in school; in Madrid, the First Lady will speak to girls and young women about the power of education and urge them to do their part to help girls worldwide fulfill their promise.

A

s part of Let Girls Learn, the First Lady – joined by Malia and Sasha Obama and Mrs. Marian Robinson – will visit Margibi County, Liberia; Marrakech, Morocco; and Madrid, Spain from June 27- July 1, 2016.

The First Lady and her family will

return to Washington, D.C. on July 1.

In Liberia, the First Lady will visit a Peace Corps Training Facility in Kakata, where she will meet with girls and young women participating in a GLOW (Girls Leading Our World) Camp. Her visit will highlight both the Peace Corps’ work to help girls in underserved communities build self-confidence, communication, and other leadership skills and new programming from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) aimed at improving access to quality education and life skills for adolescent girls across Liberia.

Also in Liberia, the First Lady will visit a school in Unification Town for a discussion with adolescent girls who have faced serious obstacles

in attaining an education. This discussion will be moderated by actress Freida Pinto, an advocate for girls’ education. The conversation will highlight both the educational barriers girls face as Liberia moves beyond the Ebola epidemic, and the U.S. Government’s efforts to continue to address those barriers and provide adolescent girls with equitable access to safe and quality education. President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf will join Mrs. Obama during her visit. The First Lady’s events in Liberia will take place on June 27.

In Morocco, the First Lady— joined by Meryl Streep, also an advocate for girls’ education, and Freida Pinto—will participate in a conversation with adolescent girls

86  June 2016  Black Business News  www.blackbbusinessnews.net  1-323-291-7819

Community/Public Interest

First Lady Michelle Obama Initiates a SnapChat Account. Join in.

By Fitz Tepper

M

ichelle Obama has joined Snapchat. The First Lady announced that she is joining the platform so users can see a behind-the-scenes look at her life in the White House. You can add her using the QR code above, or by manually adding “MichelleObama”.

In addition to her daily life, she’ll be Snapchatting her upcoming Let Girls Learn trip to Liberia, Morocco and Spain so “young people everywhere” can follow her trip.

In a Medium post announcing her new account, the First Lady’s office acknowledged that more than half of 13- to 34-years-old smartphone users are on Snapchat, which definitely seems like it would make it a great medium for Obama to

moderated by CNN’s Isha Sesay.

In the discussion, participants will discuss the challenges many girls in the region face in getting a quality education. The First Lady’s

communicate her message to the younger generation.

Besides her upcoming trip, the account will showcase ways to stay healthy and active (including tours of the White House Kitchen Garden) and updates on various White House initiatives like Joining Forces and Reach Higher.

So far, the First Lady showed a backstage view of her singing Carpool Karaoke with comedian James Corden and a Cosmopolitan shoot with girls from her Let Girls Learn initiative.

Since the account is her personal name (instead of something like FirstLady), expect Obama to keep the account after she leaves the White House. While the President isn’t yet on Snapchat, there is an

visit will also highlight commitments made by the U.S. Government through the Millennium Challenge Corporation and USAID in partnership with the Kingdom of Morocco to help adolescent girls in Morocco go to school and stay in school.

The First Lady will be in Morocco on June 28 and 29.

In Madrid, the First Lady will deliver a First Lady Michelle Obama with speech on President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Liberia

official White House account, which will probably be passed down to whoever wins in November.

Oh, and in case you were wondering, the First Lady is “verified” on Snapchat — she has the emoji next to her name! https://techcrunch.com/2016/06/22/ michelle-obama-is-now-onsnapchat/

Let Girls Learn to girls and young women, sharing the stories of girls she has met in Liberia and Morocco – and her prior travels – and highlighting new commitments to support Let Girls Learn. Mrs. Obama will encourage the audience to value their own educational opportunities, continue to strive for progress for girls and young women in their country, and take action to help the more than 62 million girls around the world who are out of school. This event will take place on June 30. While in Spain, the First Lady will also meet with Her Majesty Queen Letizia.  http://www.amipnewsonline. org/?p=7757

87  June 2016  Black Business News  www.blackbbusinessnews.net  1-323-291-7819

African Stock Exchanges • Bolsa de Valores of Cape Verde - www.bvc.cv (in Portuguese) • Bond Exchange of South Africa - www.bondexchange. co.za • Botswana Stock Exchange www.bse.co.bw • Bourse Regionale des Valeurs Mobilieres - UEMOA (Abidjan, Ivory Coast) - www.brvm.org • Casablanca Stock Exchange (Morocco) - www.casablancabourse.com/bourseweb/index. aspx • Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange (Tanzania) - www. dse.co.tz • Douala Stock Exchange (Cameroon) - www.douala-stockexchange.com/index_us.php • The Egyptian Exchange - www.

• • •

•

•

• • •

egx.com.eg/English/homepage. aspx Ethiopia Commodity Exchange - www.ecx.com.et Ghana Stock Exchange - www. gse.com.gh Johannesburg Stock Exchange (South Africa) - www. jse.co.za/Home.aspx Khartoum Stock Exchange (Sudan, in Arabic) - www.kse. com.sd Libyan Stock Market - www. lsm.ly/_layouts/membership/ login.aspx?ReturnUrl=%2fEnglis h%2fPages%2fdefault.aspx Lusaka Stock Exchange (Zambia) - www.luse.co.zm Nairobi Stock Exchange (Kenya) - www.luse.co.zm Malawi Stock Exchange - www. mse.co.mw

• Mozambique Stock Exchange (in Portuguese) - www. bolsadevalores.co.mz • Namibian Stock Exchange www.nsx.com.na • Nigerian Stock Exchange www.nse.com.ng/Pages/default. aspx • Stock Exchange of Mauritius www.stockexchangeofmauritius. com • Swaziland Stock Exchange www.ssx.org.sz • Tunisia Stock Exchange - www. bvmt.com.tn • Uganda Securities Exchange www.use.or.ug Read the lastest issue of The Exchange Magazine www.nse.co.ke/media-center/ecommunique/exchange-magazine/ category/50-free-version.html

90  June 2016  Black Business News  www.blackbbusinessnews.net  1-323-291-7819

International

USTDA Trade Lead: South Africa - Global Logistics Service Provider for Container Terminal Project Compulsory Briefing Session: July 6, 2016 (Johannesburg) Proposal Deadline: September 30, 2016 Background: Transnet, a South African state-owned freight logistics company, recently issued a request for proposals for the design, financing, construction, operation, maintenance and eventual handover of an inland container terminal in Tambo-Springs. The objective of the project is to migrate rail-friendly cargo off the country's road network. The Tambo-Springs terminal will be located east of Johannesburg, in Ekurhuleni along the N3 motorway, near the Johannesburg-to-Durban rail corridor.

The proposed terminal is an integral part of the Presidential Infrastructure Coordinating Committee's Strategic Integrated Project 2, which aims to advance the country's industrial development while boosting export capability. The project is designed to complement Transnet's five existing inland container-handling terminals in the province. The concession will be for a 20 year period and features the greatest participation from the private sector that Transnet has ever seen.

Transnet is seeking a global logistics service provider that can demonstrate technical expertise, maintain a minimum of Level 4 broadbased black economic-empowerment status with a commitment to reach Level 2 by the third year of operation, and abide by the requirements for supplier development and skills transfer.

Link for more information: http://www.transnetfreightrail.co.za/Website/ tender_pdf/RFQ-CRAC-KGG-21543-ADVERT.pdf

91  June 2016  Black Business News  www.blackbbusinessnews.net  1-323-291-7819

International

Assistant Secretary Thomas-Greenfield Previewed the 2016 Global Entrepreneur Summit in California

A

ssistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Linda Thomas-Greenfield traveled to San Francisco, Silicon Valley, and Los Angeles, May 30-June 2, 2016, to highlight the importance of entrepreneurs, women, youth, and representatives of the diaspora who are creating innovative solutions to some of world’s toughest challenges. She previewed the seventh annual Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES) that will be held at Stanford University June 22-24,

to encourage investment in Africa, and discuss U.S. efforts to promote entrepreneurship in Africa.

The Assistant Secretary met with business community representatives, students, entrepreneurs, and the African diaspora. In San Francisco, the Assistant Secretary participated in a discussion at the World Affairs Council of Northern California on the importance of entrepreneurship in Africa. At the Museum of the African Diaspora (MoAD), she engaged in an entrepreneurship

roundtable. In Los Angeles, the Assistant Secretary engaged community and business leaders on the importance of investing in Africa at the Museum of African American Art. Be sure to follow the Assistant Secretary on Twitter @StateAfrica and hashtag #ges2016 for more updates throughout her trip.  http://www.ges2016.org/pressreleases/2016/5/31/assistantsecretary-thomas-greenfieldtravels-to-california

92  June 2016  Black Business News  www.blackbbusinessnews.net  1-323-291-7819

International

Partners of the 2016 Global Entrepreneurship Summit Announced

T

he U.S. Department of State announced today the partners and steering committee for the 2016 Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES) to be hosted by President Obama June 22-24 at Stanford University. The Summit will be attended by more than 700 entrepreneurs from 170 countries around the world, including a large number of social entrepreneurs.

Attendees will participate in three days of interactive discussions and workshops with top Silicon Valley executives and investors from around the world. The State Department is working with selected partners through the SPARK Initiative, a consortium of organizations committed to supporting greater investment in global entrepreneurship.

The Department has assembled a group of partners who can help delegates transform ideas into reality. The partners share President Obama’s commitment to entrepreneurship and are committed to supporting the Summit, which is a unique event that can spur innovation across the globe.

Startup communities around the world share common beliefs and concerns, but not all have the same opportunities or resources.

Through the support of the State Department and its committed corporate partners, SPARK and the Global Entrepreneurship Summit are providing resources, networks and ideas to help entrepreneurs not only start, but scale as well.

GES Partners are contributing to the overall experience of the Summit

including the creation of networking lounges, a “portals to” project to connect entrepreneurs around the world, opening and closing receptions to solidify investor and entrepreneur relationships, a Global Launch Lounge to encourage new commitments toward global entrepreneurship, the Dell PolicyHackTM, and the creation of the Innovation Marketplace – the main hub of activities, tools, and resources for attendees of the GES. Partners will also provide direct services for the entrepreneurs including connections with top mentors and investors in Silicon Valley, funding and prizes for the winning youth and women entrepreneurs of the GES+ Spark the Fire pitch competition, travel sponsorship for need-based entrepreneurs to attend, global media coverage, and programs to help entrepreneurs continue to grow and scale even after the Summit.

The Global Partners of GES 2016 are the following: • Al Jazeera Media Network • Blackstone Charitable Foundation • Bloomberg L.P. • Dalberg Global Development Advisors • Dell Inc. • Deloitte • Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation • Ernst & Young • GE • Google for Entrepreneurs • Kauffman Foundation • Microsoft • Omidyar Network

• PayPal • Samsung • Silicon Valley Bank • Skoll Foundation • Stanford University • Stripe • Walmart • World Bank Group In addition, the State Department announced the following members of the Steering Committee for the 2016 Global Entrepreneurship Summit: • Astri Kimball, Google • Danny Navarro, Google for Entrepreneurs • David Demarest, Stanford University • Elizabeth Gore, Dell Inc. • Jonathan Ortmans, SPARK • Kate O’Sullivan, Microsoft Corporation • Renee Kaplan, Skoll Foundation • Suzana Grego, Skoll Foundation • Tony Tolentino, Blackstone Charitable Foundation • Victor Hwang, Kauffman Foundation These individuals are providing program advice, support and guidance to the GES. As leading professionals, their assistance ensures that the Summit will be an invaluable tool for entrepreneurs as they build their businesses.

For more information on the Global Entrepreneurship Summit, please visit www.ges2016.org and follow us at @ges2016 on Twitter and ges2016 on Instagram.

You can also learn more about the participants by reading their posts on the GES Medium publication at https://medium.com/globalentrepreneurship-summit.

For more information on SPARK, please visit: http://startthespark. org.  http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ ps/2016/05/257771.htm

94  June 2016  Black Business News  www.blackbbusinessnews.net  1-323-291-7819

Calling all Importers and Exporters!

REGISTRATION DEADLINE: JUNE 30, 2016 BizFed 2016 Vietnam Trade Mission August 19-29, 2016 WHY VIETNAM? BizFed has designated Vietnam as a target market for members to explore further, especially given Vietnam's inclusion in the pending Trans-Pacific Partnership. Ho Chi Minh City, our first stop, followed by Ha Noi and Binh Duong are among the largest commercial hubs of Vietnam and are the ideal bases to explore business opportunities in Vietnam.

If you are looking to expand your market to Vietnam, or know someone who is, continue reading below. Be reminded that our June 30 registration deadline is right around the corner!

Please fill out this form to identify yourself as a potential trade mission attendee, and then we will follow up with you with further details. Qualifed SME's will receive a $1,000 grant for this trip!

Click here for information about our June 22, "Doing Business with Asia in a TPP World" event! RSVP to rachel.horning@bizfed.org and meet with us face to face to learn more.

Discover why you should join us in Vietnam, by reviewing this helpful information.

Email rachel.horning@bizfed.org for more information!

95  June 2016  Black Business News  www.blackbbusinessnews.net  1-323-291-7819

The Africa Society of the National Summit on Africa and His Excellency LT. General Joseph Henry Smith, Ambassador of the Republic of Ghana, are honored to invite you to attend the Silver Anniversary Andrew Young Africa Lecture Series featuring special guest lecturer

Ambassador Andrew Young pioneering civil rights, African development and human rights leader

June 23, 2016 ď ? 6:00p.m. to 8:00p.m.

Embassy of the Republic of Ghana 3512 International Drive, NW, Washington, DC 20008 There will be a reception preceding the lecture RSVP HERE NOW! www.eventbrite.com/e/ambassador-andrew-young-to-deliver-africa-lecture-tickets-25907527111 The Africa Society is a premiere 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to engaging and educating Americans about the countries comprising the continent of Africa and to create, through partnerships, a better understanding of its peoples, diverse cultures, histories and economies.

This two-day program is led by the Bureau of Industry & Security's professional counseling staff and provides an in-depth examination of the Export Administration Regulations (EAR).

The program will cover the information exporters need to know to comply with U.S. export control requirements on commercial goods.

Presenters will conduct a number of "hands-on" exercises that will prepare you to apply the regulations to your own company's export activities.

This workshop will explain: • The Scope of the Export Administration Regulations • How to determine the export licensing requirements for your product • When you may export without applying for a license • What an "Export Management Compliance Program (EMCP)" is, and how it can help meet your regulatory responsibilities • What the Enhanced Proliferation Control Initiative is, and how it affects you Date: August 3-4, 2016 Location: Sheraton Gateway Los Angeles Hotel 6101 West Century Boulevard Los Angeles, CA 90045 Registration: The registration fee is $450 per person. (Includes continental breakfasts, a luncheon both full days, and conference materials.)

Registration Questions (310) 235-7220 REGISTER NOW Detailed program information located at: http://cs.decsocal.org/BISEAR16_LA.html Best Regards, Jason Sproule Senior International Trade Specialist U.S. Commercial Service, U.S. Department of Commerce

GUEST SPEAKERS: JOHN BUSHNELL Senior Export Administration Regulation Specialist Bureau of Industry & Security LANI TITO Senior Export Administration Regulation Specialist Bureau of Industry & Security RICK WEIR Special Agent in Charge Office of Export Enforcement Bureau of Industry & Security AGENDA http://cs.decsocal.org/BISEAR16_ LAagenda.html PROGRAM CONTENT Questions?

Please contact BIS at (949) 6600144 or email.

SPECIAL NOTE: The Western Regional Office of the Department of Commerce, Bureau of Industry & Security is a State Bar of California approved MCLE provider.

This course is worth 12 hours of MCLE credit.

(However, 0 credits will apply for legal ethics, law practice mgmt., prevention/detection/treatment of substance abuse and emotional distress, and elimination of bias)

97  June 2016  Black Business News  www.blackbbusinessnews.net  1-323-291-7819

International

Download the Zambia-USA Chamber of Commerce App from the

Apple App Store or

Google Play Store Search: "Zambia USA Chamber"

Find links to the chamber website and facebook page, and embassies; access business resources; receive breaking news; view relevant video presentations; communicate via Twitter, smartphone and e-mail.

www.zambiausachamber.org 98  June 2016  Black Business News  www.blackbbusinessnews.net  1-323-291-7819

International

Returning to Africa?

African Repatriation is an invaluable online resource for any African national who is thinking about returning to Africa.

Our industry articles and specialist editorials provide the latest sector information. Why not find out for yourself and become a part of our growing community today? www.africanrepatriation. com

Career Opportunities in Africa Search and apply online for the latest vacancies in Africa with African Talent. We provide candidates and employers with the tools and resources needed in today’s competitive job market. For employers, we offer numerous options to feature your jobs in Africa and for candidates, reviewing the most recent job vacancies in Africa is a fast, easy process.

Uploading your CV is simple and takes just a few moments. www.africantalent.com 99  June 2016  Black Business News  www.blackbbusinessnews.net  1-323-291-7819

Thursday Blues at Uncle Darrow‛s High Noon-2pm Every Thursday

Come by for lunch and relax to blues & jazz from our house band!

2560 S. Lincoln Blvd.

Marina del Rey North East corner of Washington & Lincoln

“LA Times Magazine favorite cajun food”

310-306-4862

www.uncledarrows.com 100  June 2016  Black Business News  www.blackbbusinessnews.net  1-323-291-7819

International

September 16-17, 2016 Carson Community Center Carson, CA panafricanglobaltradeconfeerence.com Contact for more information: Al Washington, Exec. Director 1-626.243.3614 alwashington@africa-usa.org 101  June 2016  Black Business News  www.blackbbusinessnews.net  1-323-291-7819

konya

gi.co.t

z

International

One Africa:

Tell the US Government that North Africa is Africa Too!

J

oin with and support the United Africa Organization’s campaign to petition the U.S. Department of State to include the whole African continent under its Bureau of African Affairs.

Why? The State Department’s Bureau of African Affairs, led by Assistant Secretary Johnnie Carson, currently excludes Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia and Western Sahara from its agenda.

Instead, the aforementioned countries are grouped with the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, together with Iran, Iraq, Israel and others.

This artificial distinction between North Africa and the rest of Africa

negatively impacts US foreign policy relations throughout the entire continent of Africa.

We unequivocally reject the argument that North African countries are outside the scope of African affairs.

North Africa is geographically and historically part of the African continent, and all fifty-three (53) independent African states, including North African countries, are represented in the African Union (AU).

It would be far more productive for the State Department to engage with the entire continent of Africa, including North Africa, under its Bureau of African Affairs.

We are one Africa, from the Cape to Cairo, indivisible and bound together!

Therefore, no square inch of African

land should be excluded from African affairs.

Sign The Petition!!!

Go to www.change.org/petitions/ one-africa-tell-us-state-departmentthat-north-africa-is-part-of-africa and sign the online petition to support this important proposition. Next tell everyone you know to sign. 

www.uniteafricans.org

Let Us Help You Grow Your Business to New Heights.

To take your business to the next level, it’s essential that you choose the right financial partner.

At East West Bank, we offer all the products and services you expect from a big bank with the high level of personal attention you expect from a local bank. Our bankers have over 40 years of experience helping minority businesses reach their financial goals. We look forward to working closely with you to customize a financial solution tailored to your unique situation.

For more information about East West Bank and our solutions for businesses, please call: 1.626.768.6729 www.eastwestbank.com

Equal Housing Lender

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Shopping Gallery

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Artwear Handpainted Handbags, Skirts, Tees, Accessories, Calendars, Wall Hangings & More! http://gbabysworld.blogspot.com Gbabyartwear@hotmail.com or Gbabyart345@gmail.com Find Gbaby Products at the “Collective� http://www.atthecollective.com 280 Elizabeth Street, Atlanta, GA www.carolsdaughter.com

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Find us at: https://nubianskin.com, www.nubianskin.com/us and 15 Nordstrom stores in the USA

Empowering Women.

Embracing our Colour.

The Economic Turn Around in the USA is in Our Hands •Buy Products Made or Assembled in the USA •Hire One New Employee •Eat an Extra Meal Out Each Week •Start/Grow a Business to Generate Wealth & Jobs

Buy Black  Save Black  Invest Black 110  June 2016  Black Business News  www.blackbbusinessnews.net  1-323-291-7819

Collection Bed, Bath & Beyond

http://bsmith.com/shop

http://marvin-sin.squarespace.com

This magnificent handcrafted concert grand is a "Best of" in terms of sound, new technology, beauty, and construction.

Massively well-built to withstand the rigors of intense concert performances without compromise, the SHADD Concert Grand is a coveted treasure for pianists and collectors.

With a rich voluminous sound that performs true to all genres of music, this phenomenal instrument has a rare diversified ability to play from the softest whisper with pure clear sound to a major roar with a bass section exuding an abundance of power and resounding singing sensations.

www.shaddpianos.com

Baron's Painting & Decorating Service Baron Williams

30 Years of Experience in the Greater Los Angeles Area Specializing in Exterior and Interior Painting, Tiling, Linoleum Flooring,

Cultural Interiors West &

Cordially Invited Cultural Interiors West 5573 West Pico Blvd.

Los Angeles, CA 90019

& Wall Paper

"I will paint any one story building or house for $2,500 satisfaction guaranteed."

1-323-490-3774

Experience our exciting array of products from Cards to Cupcakes, African Masks, Asian Teacups, Healthy Herbal Teas, Gourd Purses, Candles, to Furniture Hope to see you soon!!!

In the meantime visit us on Facebook www.facebook.com/pages/CulturalInteriors-West/140688362658236

113  June 2016  Black Business News  www.blackbbusinessnews.net  1-323-291-7819

New Location Leimert Park Village 3347 W. 43rd Street Los Angeles, CA 90008 1-323-299-6383 www.zambezibazaar.com shop@ zambezibazaar.com

114  June 2016  Black Business News  www.blackbbusinessnews.net  1-323-291-7819

ZIMBABWE GALLERY 1-484-459-6625 zimbabwegallery@yahoo.com www.shonasculpture.com @ZimbabweGallery www.facebook.com/Zimbabwe Gallery

PHIPPS PLAZA 3500 Peachtree Road, Atlanta, GA 30326

GREENBRIAR MALL 2841 Greenbriar Pkwy SW, Atlanta, GA 30331

Shop for all of the NoMu products at: https://shop.nomu.co.za and www.amazon.com

Locations: Downtown Culver City: 9537 Culver Blvd.

310-202-5453 City of Compton: 2600 E. Alondra Blvd.

310-638-7871 www.honeyskettle.com Open Sunday-Thursday 11am-10pm Friday-Saturday 11am-11pm

115  June 2016  Black Business News  www.blackbbusinessnews.net  1-323-291-7819

Bernahu Asfaw & Getahun Asfaw

1041 S. Fairfax Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90019 323-938-8827 or 323-938-8806 • Fax: 323-932-6047 messob@gmail.com • www.messob.com

Open 7 days a week • 11am - 11pm

Krispy Kruchy Chicken is in the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza, Los Angeles.

Krispy Krunchy Chicken is a cajun-style chicken (bone-in and tenders), served fresh, never frozen and fried in zero trans fat oil. Their menu also includes signature dishes of Traditional Wings; Krispy Wings; Cajun Sweet & Sour Wings; Cajun Tenders; Red Beans and Rice; Jambalaya; Boudin Bites (Cajun rice balls); Krispy Shrimp and Honey Butter Biscuits.

For additional information, please call Krispy Kruchy at 1-323-293-3332 or visit www. krispykrunchy.com.

118  June 2016  Black Business News  www.blackbbusinessnews.net  1-323-291-7819

Parker House Sausage (www.parkerhousesausage. com) was started by Chicago entrepreneur, Judge H. Parker who came to Chicago from Montgomery County, Tennessee with little more than the conviction that there was a potential market for homemade sausage products prepared according to his mother’s recipes. By 1919 Judge Parker began selling his unique blend of herbs and spices mixed with flavorful, savory sausage from a horse drawn cart on a retail basis.

Recognized as one of the oldest family owned businesses in the U.S. In 2014 Parker House expanded its product line to include chicken products including breakfast sausage, hot links, and smoked sausage.

SHOP ONLINE! //shop.parkerhousesausage.com

We invite you to browse through our store and shop with confidence.

Need a dinner idea. Go to the Recipe Page on our website.

Thanks for visiting!

www.wosa.us

http://aaavintners.org

http://shallwewine.com

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Ma's Best is a bakery specializing in the production of home-style yeast rolls and baked products. www.facebook.com/masbestrolls/#!/masbestrolls/?tab=page_info#!/masbestrolls/info

Try all 3 flavors!

In your local grocery store or shop online for syrups, recipes, and books. Learn about our special projects and join the recipe contest.

MICHELE FOODS, INC. 1-708-331-7316 www.michelefoods.com

www.thirdworldpressfoundation.com

127  June 2016  Black Business News  www.blackbbusinessnews.net  1-323-291-7819

Eso Won Books African American Books 4327 Degnan Boulevard Leimert Park, Los Angeles

Give the Gift of Books and Music Come see our unsurpassed collection of books, music, videos, children’s books, and games!

1-323-294-0324

www.esowonbookstore.com  //esowon.booksense.com for Calendar of Events

128  June 2016  Black Business News  www.blackbbusinessnews.net  1-323-291-7819

BBA Master Planner September 2016

BBA Financial Lending Pavilion & Awards Luncheon Held in recognition of National MED Week, the BBA Financial Lending Pavilion brings together business owners, banks and investors in an effort to facilitate exchange of information and initiation of development deals. For particiation information call 1-312-291-9334 or send an inquiry to mail@bbala.org. 

March 2017

BBA Salute to Back Women Business Conference The conference highlights the achievements of African American women entrepreneurs, offers workshops and a retail pavilion. For particiation information call 1-312-2919334 or send an inquiry to mail@ bbala.org 

June 2017

BBA Annual Awards Dinner Taking place at the LA Hotel Downtown, the awards dinner will highlight the achievements of African American entrepreneurs and the government agencies and corporate entities that provide positive supports for African American businesses. For particiation information visit www.bbala.org. 

130  June 2016  Black Business News  www.blackbbusinessnews.net  1-323-291-7819

Resource Vault Media/Information Africa Interactive Multimedia Press/Content Agency in Africa www.africa-interactive.com Africa World Press Books www.africaworldpressbooks.com African Trade Magazine www.africantrademagazine.com African Vibes Magazine www.africanvibes.com The Africapitalist www.tonyelumelufoundation.org/ africapitalisminstitute/africapitalist-magazine The African World www.theafricanworld.tv Africast TV www.africast.tv Afritorial www.afritorial.com www.facebook.com/Afritorial AllAfrica http://allafrica.com Black Wall Street Times http://bwstimes.com Black Business News Group www.blackbusinessnews.net Black Children's Books and Authors http://blackchildrensbooksandauthors.tumblr.com BlackPast.org www.blackpost.org Black Press USA www.blackpressusa.com BridesNoir www.bridesnoir.com The Chocolate Voice www.thechocolatevoice.com CuisineNoir www.cuisinenoirmag.com DiasporaVoice www.blogtalkradio.com/diasporavoice Publish Africa http://wow.gm/publishafrica Rock Me Africa //rockmeafrica.com YouTube Educational Channels http://teacherswithapps.com/197-educational-youtube-channels-know World Library www.worldlibrary.org

Africa Leadership Forum http://africaleadership.org The African Union www.au.int/en Black Business Association www.bbala.org CauseCast www.causecast.com www.causecastfornonprofits.com Pan African Film Festival www.paff.org United African Organization http://uniteafricans.org Zambia-USA Chamber of Commerce www.zambiausachamber.org

Investment/Development Africa Reports www.africareports.com African Development Bank www.afdb.org African Export-Import Bank //afreximbank.com/afrexim/en AfrigadgetTV www.afrigadget.com Disrupt Africa http://disrupt-africa.com/ The Exchange Magazine www.nse.co.ke Silicon Harlem http://event.siliconharlem.net Ventures www.ventures-africa.com United Nations http://webtv.un.org

U.S. Government

Commerce Department www.doc.gov International Trade Administration http://trade.gov Minority Business Development Agency www.mbda.gov Power Africa www.usaid.gov/powerafrica Small Business Administration www.sba.gov State Department www.dos.gov Trade Africa www.usaid.gov/tradeafrica White House www.whitehouse.gov

Organizations 131  June 2016  Black Business News  www.blackbbusinessnews.net  1-323-291-7819

Books to Consider

Books to Consider...

Against All Odds: How to Stay on Top of the Game

and necessary persistence. Throughout this handbook you will be given numerous life lessons based on an odyssey of risk and reward, those lessons are designed to help pave your own uncharted course. Her journey goes from childhood environment, graduation, working, entering the legal system, corporate to attaining respect in the policy arena. The poignant stories of desirelearn how to never give up, follow your passion, and recognize opportunity!  https://www.amazon.com/Against-All-Odds-StayGame/dp/1483441563?ie=UTF8&keywords=Angel le%20kwemo&qid=1465483680&ref_=sr_1_1&sr=8-1

by Angelle B. Kwemo

A Real Southern Cook in Her Savannah Kitchen

A

gainst A l l Odds is the captivating story of one woman's determination to pursue her passion and aspirations, defying selflimitation and status quo. Angelle K w e m o , proud to be an

by Dora Charles

African woman, followed her dreams, ignored the ridicule, and fought aggressively to seize opportunities.

This story is for all people of race, color, and discrimination, but not for the light of heart.

Witness how one person followed her vision, you will learn from her endurance, the challenges,

Dora Charles has spent a lifetime in the kitchen, learning from a long line of fantastic Southern cooks, starting at age 6 making coffee for her grandmother.

Cooking for others is what she's always done — and what she does best.

When Charles needed a job, she knew her options were limited. She'd never finished school, but she knew she could cook. She started out making breakfast at a Days Inn, and spent nearly 20 years cooking with Paula Deen at her Savannah restaurant, The Bag Lady.

Her experiences and connection to Deen led to a New York Times article, followed by f a chance for f her very v own cookbook. c Charles s p e n t two tw years putting together "A Real " Southern C o o k in Her i Savannah S Kitchen" (Houghton ( Mifflin

132  June 2016  Black Business News  www.blackbbusinessnews.net  1-323-291-7819

Harcourt, $25), which a r r i v e d in stores last week.

Recipes in this book are the first she's ever written down, and she walks r e a d e r s t h r o u g h every step of recipes just as her grandmother H a t t i e Dora Charles taught her.

Built with love and lessons rooted in a family history of sharecroppers and her Aunt Laura's memories of former slaves, her reliably detailed recipes take readers through a primer on lard and pan-fried chicken to oxtail stew, boiled peanuts, hush puppies and pot roast to her favorite "Slap Yo' Mama Coconut Cake."  www.jsonline.com/features/food/dora-charlesserves-up-a-dash-of-savannah-cookingb99568603z1-327758431.html www.amazon.com/Real-Southern-Cook-SavannahKitchen/dp/0544387686

Is You Okay?

by GloZell Green

A

fun, inspiring memoir from “the Queen of YouTube” about her journey from anonymity in Florida to massive popularity on the Internet, filled with the unlikeliest of stories that are as poignant as they are hilarious “Is you okay? Is you good? Cuz I want to know!”

Eager to entertain, dedicated to making people laugh, comedian and video superstar GloZell Green is game for any challenge, no matter how silly, gross, or absurd.

Her crazy video stunts have propelled her into the ranks of legendary funny ladies such as Ellen DeGeneres, Whoopi Goldberg, Tina Fey, Carol Burnett, Lucille Ball, and Phyllis Diller—and made her an inspiring icon for a new generation. With this funny and liberating book, GloZell uses the stories from her winding journey to unbelievable success to help her fans and young women everywhere navigate the obstacles we all face

GloZell Green in life, while helping them find the greatness unique to each of them, inside and out.

Is You Okay? speaks truth about the elements of life we wrestle with every day—empowerment, love, body image, school, work, family, relationships, failure, success. GloZell introduces some of her most outlandish, funny, and unforgettable video challenges and uses each to explore a serious yet common hurdle.

Sharing formative stories and insights from her own life, she encourages young women to learn to love their body, break free of their shell, and carve out their own identity.

Making the connection between hilarious physical challenges and meaningful personal challenges, GloZell shows that we’re all in this together.

“Everything isn’t just gonna be b okay. k It doesn’t d ’t just j t have h to be good,” she reminds us. “It can be great (even with a spoonful of pepper in your mouth).”  https://www.amazon.com/You-Okay-GloZell-Green/ dp/0062459422

133  June 2016  Black Business News  www.blackbbusinessnews.net  1-323-291-7819