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National
Chris Matthews Announces Retirement, Mutually Parts Ways With MSNBC
Gregory Washington Will Be The
Chris Matthews, one of the longest-tenured voices at MSNBC, announced his re- tirement during Monday night’s airing of his talk show, “Hardball.”
Matthews, 74, said he and MSNBC had mutually agreed to part ways. The de- cision followed a series of events that resulted in criti- cism of the host’s statements about Bernie Sanders, African-American lawmak- ers, and comments he had made to female journalists and coworkers.
“I’m retiring,” Matthews said. “This is the last ‘Hard- ball’ on MSNBC.”
Matthews was due to re- tire in the near future with the events of the past week playing a factor in the timing of the move, an MSNBC spokesperson said.
After MSNBC aired a com- mercial following the an- nouncement, Matthews did not return to the program. Steve Kornacki, a political reporter for the network, took over the rest of the hour, and seemed shocked by the news. “That was a lot to take in,” he said, saying it had
Of George Mason University
CHRIS MATTHEWS AND LAURA BASSETT
The Board of Visitors of George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, has an- nounced the selection of Gre- gory Washington as the university’s eighth president. When he takes office on July 1, Dr. Washingon will be the first African American to lead the university.
George Mason University is a state-operated educational institution with more than 26,000 undergraduate stu- dents and more than 11,000 graduate students, according to the latest data supplied to the U. S. Department of Edu- cation. African Americans make up 11 percent of the un- dergraduate student body.
“I am honored to accept this position and thrilled to lead Mason at this exciting time,” Dr. Washington said. “What attracted me to Mason was its reputation for having real impact, providing access and for its commitment to in- clusive excellence. Those val- ues are in direct alignment with how I operate as an aca- demic leader. I look forward to helping continue to accelerate the trajectory of the institu-
GREGORY WASHINGTON
tion.”
Dr. Washington cur-
rently serves as the dean of the Henry Samueli School of En- gineering at the University of California, Irvine. He joined the faculty there in 2011. Ear- lier, he was director of the In- stitute for Sustainable Energy and the Environment and in- terim dean of the College of Engineering at Ohio State University.
Dr. Washington holds bachelor’s, master’s, and doc- toral degrees in mechanical engineering, all from North Carolina State Univerity
First African American President
been an honor to work with Matthews, and then begin- ning a discussion about the coronavirus response.
Matthews, a former speechwriter for President Jimmy Carter, has hosted “Hardball” on MSNBC since 1999 and remained a centrist voice on the cable news chan- nel’s prime-time program- ming, which often features commentary that is further to the left.
NBCUniversal is the par- ent company of MSNBC and NBC News.
Matthews said he was not retiring due to a lack of interest in politics, but nod-
ded to changes taking place. “The younger generations out there are ready to take the reins,” he said.
Matthews also apolo- gized for comments he made to women. On Friday, jour- nalist Laura Bassett wrote an op-ed in “GQ” stating that Matthews “has a pattern of making comments about women’s appearances in de- meaning ways” and that Matthews asked “Why haven’t I fallen in love with you yet?”, just before a tele- vised discussion about sex- ual-assault allegations against President Donald Trump.
Honey Pot Founder Beatrice Dixon Responds To Racist Backlash From Target Commercial
Last week, Beatrice Dixon, founder of the wildly popular plant-based femi- nine care line Honey Pot, found herself in the middle of unexpected controversy as an online army of white women flooded the brand’s Trust Pilot page with nega- tive reviews.
The reason? This was all in response to a 15-second Black History Month Target advertisement starring Dixon, in which she proudly states her plans to pave the way for future Black female entrepreneurs.
“The reason why it’s so im- portant for Honey Pot to do well is so the next Black girl that comes up with a great idea, she can have a better opportunity,” Dixon is heard saying in the commer- cial, which was filmed as part of Target’s “Founders We Be- lieve In” series.
“Why specify Black?” one
BEATRICE DIXON
white reviewer questioned on Trust Pilot, while another writes, “I would have consid- ered buying from this com- pany if it hadn’t been for the racist commercial.”
ESSENCE spoke exclu- sively with Dixon about ac- cusations that she might be racist for specifying Black women in the ad. She says her products are for all
women, as they’ve been mar- keted. However, as an entre- preneur, there’s a reason why Black women deserved a spe- cial call-out.
“I wasn’t necessarily blindsided [by the negative reactions], but I also didn’t have an expectation,” said Dixon, sounding calm and unbothered as always. “This was not Honey Pot’s com- mercial, it was Target’s com- mercial. It was shot during Black History Month and for Women’s History Month. They chose that particular clip for a reason. I’m here for that story and that’s why I said it. I know that there’s a huge disparity when you look at the funding of businesses. I’m always going to be a pro- ponent of us doing what we have to do so this isn’t even a conversation. The only thing we as Black women business owners can do is make really successful businesses.”
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