Page 33 - Florida Sentinel 1-13-17 Edition

National
Virginia Couple Leave ‘No Tip For Black People’ Note For Waitress
Waitress Kelly Carter was shocked to read the message left by a young white couple on the bill.
First Black Female Owned Comic Book Store Loving And Profiting From National Attention
Ariell Johnson in her store.
PHILADELPHIA, PA — With Marvel, Inc. bringing comic book characters to life, the value of owning a busi- ness that is at the root has help make this business- woman successful.
When entrepreneur Ariell Johnson opened her comic book store and coffee shop in Kensington, Pennsyl- vania back in December 2015, it became an instant hit both locally and nationally.
Being hailed as the first African American woman to open a comic book store on the east coast, she immedi- ately caught the attention of ABC News, CNN Money, MSNBC, and tons of other web sites and blogs.
Regarding her shop which she named Amalgam Comics & Coffee Shop, Johnson told Philly.com, “I think we’re doing well.” She says it all started with her childhood fascination with Storm, the X-Men superheroine. As an adult, this led her to become a huge comic book and sci-fi fantasy fan.
In her honor, Johnson was recently featured on the cover of The Invincible Iron Man No. 1 November 2016 issue with Riri Williams, a new African American female superhero character known as Ironheart.
When Johnson saw the cover, she said, “I knew what it was supposed to look like, but having the actual art in front of you is so much dif- ferent. It’s really exciting.” That particular issue went on to also gain quite a bit of pub- licity in the world of comics.
The International Space
Station Will Finally Get
Its First Black Astronaut
ASHBURN, VA —- A wait- ress in Ashburn, Va., says that a couple she provided service to Saturday left a racist note instead of a tip on their bill before leaving.
Kelly Carter, a waitress at Anita’s New Mexico Style Cafe in Ashburn, said that she was shocked to see the note on the bill after the couple ate on Saturday morning.
The 20-something white man and woman wrote “Great service don’t tip black people” at the bottom of the bill after paying by credit card.
Anita’s owner, Tommy Tellez, Sr., said “I’m ap- palled. This is so dishearten- ing.”
Tellez also said that Carter is a loyal employee and beloved by her cus- tomers.
“She has a following,” Tellez said. “Her philosophy for customer service is way beyond the norm, and we’re
really happy to have her.” Carter said that the cou- ple were like any other cus- tomers; they acted no differently and gave no indi- cation that they were un- happy with her for any reason. She said the woman even complimented the food. According to reports,it was two of Carter’s regular customers who posted the bill on Facebook. They noticed her reaction to the message and were outraged by the in- cident. The Facebook post had been shared nearly 900
times by Sunday night. The local NAACP is also spreading word of the inci-
dent. Carter’s loyal customers
have been offering her sup- port. The restaurant manager said that many have come in to eat and have requested her as their server, leaving gener- ous tips. Others have simply stopped by to give her hugs and offer her money.
Dr. Jeanette Epps has a doctorate degree in aero- space engineering.
Last week NASA an- nounced that astronaut Jeanette J. Epps is sched- uled to begin a mission on the International Space Station in May 2018 as part of Expe- dition 56-57. According to a press release, she will be the first African-American crew member assigned to the ISS.
A NASA biography states that Epps was first tapped as an astronaut in 2009 when she was selected as part of the space agency's 20th astro-
naut class. Epps, who has a doctorate in aerospace engi- neering, served as a scientific researcher at Ford before joining the CIA as a Techni- cal Intelligence Officer in 2002.
Since joining NASA, the Syracuse, New York, native has worked to support other missions to the International Space Station.
Epps will be joined on her first trip into space by Andrew Feustal, who flew on the space shuttle En- deavor’s final mission and spent time on the space sta- tion in 2011.
The bittersweet news comes on the heels of the re- lease of the true story movie ‘Hidden Figures.’ The story is based on the book written about the Black women, in the 1960s who were the rea- son John Glenn was able to orbit the earth for the first time.
Teacher Suspended With
GoFundMe Account Up To $160,000 For Tortured Disabled Man
An online fundraiser was started for the family of the Chicago vic- tim tortured on Facebook Live. Right: Members of the alleged tor- ture gang (l-r) Brittany Covington, 18; Jordan Hill, 18; Tanisha Covington, 24; and Tesfaye Cooper, 18.
Pay After Racist Twitter
Attacks Discovered
CHICAGO — The Chicago torture victim whose abuse was streamed online in a horrific Facebook Live video is receiving an outpouring of support from across the na- tion, and almost $160,000 has been raised on his behalf in a GoFundMe campaign, the Chicago Tribune reports.
“The perpetrators have been apprehended and hope- fully swift justice will be served. But let’s take an op- portunity now to show this young man and his family some financial support dur- ing this difficult time of re- covery and let him know
there are many out there that are here for him,” R.B. Sheldon wrote in the de- scription of the campaign.
So far, more than 5,000 people have pooled together their money over the past five days, more than exceed- ing the original $10,000 goal.
The lawyer for the teen’s family said that others have sent gifts and cards to a post office box set up by the vic- tim’s sister.
The four Black suspects who kidnapped and tortured the white disable teen are being held with no bonds.
WEST VIRGINIA — A so- cial studies teacher at Hunt- ington High School in West Virginia has been suspended with pay and was asked to delete her personal Twitter account, following the dis- covery of several racially charged tweets shared via that account over more than a year, the Herald-Dispatch reports.
Jedd Flowers, the direc- tor of communications with Cabell County Schools, con- firmed that the account “pig- pen63” was the personal account for the teacher, Mary Durstein.
School officials were noti- fied about the offensive tweets over the weekend when Cabell County students and residents sent screen- shots of the tweets.
One tweet dated to July 18, 2015, and in which Durstein wrote “#cashinIn #WakeUpAmerica #view- crew Who cares if we offend
Mary Durstein is teaching children in W. Virginia.
Muslims at least they keep their heads on tact. They’re the enemy.”
In one of the more recent tweets from Jan. 5, 2017, Durstein responded to a tweet referencing the black suspects in a horrific kidnap- ping and attack on a disabled white teen in Chicago, writ- ing, “this could have been Obama’s children.”
She also retweeted posts that condoned the deporta- tion of Muslims and spoke badly of those who support Black Lives Matter.
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