By Bry'onna Mention· Updated October 21, 2022
October is dwindling down which means Scorpio season is almost upon us. If you listen close enough, you can hear their mysterious energy brewing. If that’s not scary enough, how about the shortage of butter and crab legs? Now while the disappearance of both feels very anti-Black, one is linked to climate change, and the other is because of the new “butter board” trend online. Yes, butter board. Imagine a charcuterie board, but with butter.
If that information alone made your cholesterol rise, here’s a few other news stories you might have missed.
1. Kiss The (Coffee) Game GoodbyeHip-Hop heads would guarantee cold rap lines from Jadakiss, but now they can expect a hot cup joe too.
Jadakiss, born Jason Phillips, a one-third of notorious rap group The Lox, announced the release of a coffee line called Kiss Café. Instead of with his brothers in rhyme Sheek Louch and Styles P, the Yonkers native is collaborating with his father Bob Phillips and his son Jaewon Phillips.
The Patriarch of the Phillips family has been involved in the coffee industry since 1977. Since 1998, he has served as president and CEO of Caturra Corp., a boutique importing and trading firm that specializes in international green coffees.
“This coffee is for all coffee lovers,” the 47-year-old said in the press release. “No specific age or background or knowledge. Coffee is a universal and a personal thing. Everyone enjoys it differently. And, we’re here to help them do that.”
Kiss Café launched with its Beijo roast, which is Portuguese for kiss. The medium-dark Arabica blend is sourced from Central America and comes in whole bean or ground options. For now, Beijo is available exclusively online via the brand’s website.
2. Black Brits Want Black History Year-RoundWe celebrate Black Excellence everyday, but did you know October is Black History Month for the Brits? And despite having 31 days—that’s not enough for them either.
Earlier this week, Malorie Blackman, British author of the bestseller children’s series Noughts & Crosses, called on schools to teach Black history all year-round.
In a recent interview with the BBC, the 60-year-old laureate said: “If you’re talking about the history of Britain, then that history includes Black people and people of color.” She insisted that history lessons should tell “the whole truth” of the British Empire, especially its significant role in the transatlantic slave trade. Currently the UK school system isn’t required to teach any Black history in the curriculum.
The Brits didn’t claim a Black History Month of their own until 17 years after the U.S. While visiting America in the ’70s, Akyaaba Addai-Sebo, witnessed Negro History Week transition into Black History Month. Inspired by the sense of pride the month-long commemoration invoked in African-American children, the Ghananian-born analyst took the idea to the UK while he sought refuge from political persecution.
Addai-Sebo chose October because it fell in line with the start of the academic year and he hoped to inspire the UK’s youth who would be freshly back from summer break.
British Black History Month differs from America’s as it celebrates African, Caribbean and even Asian communities.
3. NBA Referee Dies
MIAMI, FL – APRIL 08: LeBron James #23 of the Los Angeles Lakers talks with referee Tony Brown #6 during a timeout in the first half of the game against the Miami Heat at American Airlines Arena on April 8, 2021 in Miami, Florida.NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that,by downloading and or using this photograph,User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement.(Photo by Eric Espada/Getty Images)
The National Basketball Association announced the passing of one of their own. Tony Brown, who officiated more than 1,100 NBA games over almost two decades, died Thursday. He was 55.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver called Brown one of the league’s most accomplished referees.
According to AP News, a talented basketball player himself, Brown attended Florida A&M on scholarship before transferring and graduating from Clark College, now known as Clark Atlanta University. Brown worked his way through college as a Delta Airline employee. He didn’t retire from Delta until 2007, despite having a full blown career with the NBA.
Brown was diagnosed with Stage 4 pancreatic cancer in 2021. Initially the Tallahassee, Florida native thought his stomach discomfort was due to bad sushi.
Brown unintentionally helped make history in 2020, when he ejected San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich for an outburst during a Spurs versus Los Angeles Lakers game. Then-Spurs assistant coach Becky Hammon was forced to take over, making her the first woman to direct a team in NBA history.
In his final days of his life, along with friends and family, Brown worked to fund a scholarship for Clark Atlanta players, as he lost his once he transferred.
The family is hoping to secure their goal of $100,000 to Clark Atlanta at its men’s basketball season-opener Nov. 7.
4. Emmett Till Returns To MississippiSixty-seven years after his murder, the Mississippi community of Greenwood erected a statue of of Emmett Till, the 14-year-old Black boy who was kidnapped and killed by white men for allegedly whistling at a white woman.
The 1955 lynching became a catalyst for the civil rights movement after Till’s mother, Mamie Till-Mobley, insisted on an open-casket funeral in Chicago. The horrific images from the funeral of Till’s mutilated body were published in Jet magazine.
As of Friday afternoon, a 9-foot tall bronze statue of Till in slacks, a dress shirt and a tie with one hand on the brim of a hat, will reside not far from a Confederate monument outside the Leflore County Courthouse and about 10 miles from the remains of the store, where the alleged incident occurred.
According to AP News, Democratic state Sen. David Jordan of Greenwood secured $150,000 in state funding and the community commissioned a Utah artist, Matt Glenn, to create the statue.
Another life-size statue of Till is expected to break ground in his hometown of Chicago, later this month.
Spectators surge forward to take photos & video as a statue of #EmmettTill is unveiled in Greenwood, #Mississippi. “Wake Up, Everybody” plays on loudspeakers. pic.twitter.com/irIROsoF4Z
— Emily Wagster Pettus (@EWagsterPettus) October 21, 2022 5. Akon City, SenegalDespite a stall from the Covid-19 pandemic, according to Akon, the city he is building in Senegal will be ready soon.
The “Locked Up” singer sat down with Hip-Hop platform VLADTV this week and shared a few updates on Akon City.
“We still have the three-year window for the first phase to be done and our goal is for the first phase to be done by 2026 to make the junior Olympics in Senegal,” he said.
He explained that the paperwork and negotiation stages were completed during the pandemic. Now, the project has graduated to the feasibility and environmental sectors of the building process.
Akon even debunked confusion that the Senegalese government had donated land to him. It was previously reported that president Macky Sall, gifted Akon 2,000 square acres of land to build the establishment. Akon told VladTV, he purchased the land.
The Senegalese musician has a long history of philanthropic endeavors. In 2014, he launched Akon Lighting Africa, a project that aimed to provide electricity by solar energy in Africa. According to the initiative, 14 nations, including Guinea, Senegal, Mali, Niger, Benin and Sierra Leone have electricity.
Akon City is expected to break ground on construction as early as 2023.
6. Man Who Allegedly Killed Woman Over Basketball Game ArrestedA man has been arrested and charged with murder in the fatal shooting of Asia Womack, a 21-year-old woman who allegedly beat him at a pickup basketball game, Dallas police announced on Thursday.
Cameron Hogg, 31, was taken into custody on Thursday morning, according to police, after a warrant was issued for his arrest on Oct. 11.
According to ESSENCE, first responders found Asia Womack on a sidewalk in South Dallas with multiple gunshot wounds. She died that evening in a nearby hospital from her injuries. Womack’s family says that after she won the game, Hogg allegedly took his children and brother home before returning to the park and shooting her five times as she walked home.
“This was supposed to be a friend of Asia’s. She’s eaten with the man,” Andrea Womack, Womack’s mother, told Fox 4 News. “She’s fed him, and he turned on her and killed her in a vicious way.”
7. Kelis’ Hair Brings All The Strangers To The Yard View this post on InstagramA post shared by Kelis (@kelis)
Singer, songwriter and chef, Kelis shared an interesting video of herself during a recent trip in Singapore. The video shows herself sitting at an outside restaurant and two random Singaporian women touching her hair. The women are obviously intrigued and admiring the “Milkshake” singer’s ginger Sengalese twists. However, it is clear that Kelis is both uncomfortable and exhausted by exchange.
Despite a language barrier, the spitfire from Harlem shares in the invasion and even touches one of the women’s hair.
Kelis didn’t say much in her Instagram caption, other than announcing a restock of her New Gold mine boxes on Bountyandfull.com
The post ICYMI: Jadakiss’ Coffee Line, British Black History Month And More appeared first on Essence.
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