Page 20 - Florida Sentinel 5-16-17

National
Bow Tie Entrepreneur, 15, Now Has Major Client--The NBA
Nuclear Chemist Crowned 2017 Miss USA
Kara McCullough was crowned 2017 Miss USA
LAS VEGAS, NV—- Kara McCullough, who repre- sented the District of Colum- bia, was crowned Miss USA 2017 during Sunday night’s pageant held at Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas.
The 25-year-old chemist who works for the U.S. Nu- clear Regulatory Commission gave some interesting answers during her final round inter- view before being crowned.
When asked about what she considers feminism to be and if she considers herself a femi- nist, McCollough said she doesn’t use the word and prefers “equalism”.
“I don’t want to call myself a feminist,” McCullough said. “Women, we are just as equal as men, especially in the work- place.”
But during her backstage in- terview, she seemed to have flipped flopped about being equal to men.
“I believe we’ve come a long way and there is more work to be done,” McCullough, said. “I think domestically we are making progress and I do be- lieve that we will become equal one day.”
McCullough also believes healthcare should go to those people who have jobs.
“As a government employee, I’m granted health care. And I see firsthand that for one, to have health care, you need to have jobs, so therefore we need to continue to cultivate this environment so that we’re given the opportunities to have healthcare as well as jobs for all Americans worldwide,” she explained.
Mass. Charter School Sends Students To Detention And Bans Them From Prom For Wearing Braids
Colleen Cook and her adopted twin daughters, Deanna and Mya are upset that the girls are being targeted due to their braids.
MEMPHIS, TN —- According to Forbes magazine, the widely-popular NBA has en- tered a licensing partnership with 15-year-old entrepreneur Moziah “Mo” Bridges and his Memphis based company, Mo’s Bows, which manufac- tures handmade bow and neck- ties.
Initiated by the league, the agreement grants Mo’s the rights to manufacture products with the logos of NBA clubs for distribution through the com- pany’s online store as well as retail outlets in a seven-figure licensing deal!
The league itself is on track to rack in about $6 billion in revenue this year. Wow!
“Moziah’s creativity and en- trepreneurial spirit are an in- spiration, and we are thrilled about the launch of the Mo’s Bows NBA Collection,” said Lisa Piken Koper, NBA Vice President, Global Partnerships. “We are always looking for ways to diversify our merchan- dise offerings and cater to our fashionable fan base, and couldn’t be more excited that fans will have a fun and unique way to show support for their favorite NBA teams.”
How did Mo get here? In 2014, Mo (who was only 12- years-old at the time) and his mother, Tramica, appeared on ABC’s Shark Tank, where he left enough of an impression that entrepreneur and fashion mogul Daymond John went on to invest in Bridges’ busi- ness.
Moziah ‘Mo’ Bridges has signed a major client —- the NBA.
guidance, Mo’s Bows sales ex- ploded, and the brand landed on the shelf of luxury retailers like Neiman Marcus and Bloomingdales.
Bridges became a star in his own right as well, landing on TIME Magazine’s Most Influ- ential Teen List in 2015 and being invited to the White House by former President Barack Obama. That very same year, ESPN hired the 13- year-old Bridges as a fashion correspondent for their NBA Draft telecast, while his com- pany hand-made bow ties for all of the draft picks.
“My goal has always been to make Mo’s Bows a household name for kid entrepreneurship and men's accessories,” said Bridges. “Partnerships like this one will help me reach my goals of having a full clothing line by the time I graduate from college. It feels really good to know a major company like the NBA believes in me and my vi- sion to shake up the world through fashion."
MALDEN, MS —- In an ap- parent sudden enforcement of the “rules,” Black students at a charter school in Malden, Mass., have been subject to punishment over braids. And their parents are upset.
According to the Boston Globe, Colleen Cook, whose twin 15-year-old daughters, Deanna and Mya, attend the Mystic Valley Regional Charter School, have been subject to several detentions since last week and now could actually be suspended from school over their hairstyle.
Two other mothers of Black or biracial children said that their kids have also been pun- ished because of their braids.
Mystic Valley is attempting to defend its actions by stat- ing that its rules are meant to promote education rather than style, fashion and mate- rialism—thus reducing visible gaps among those of different means.
However, some parents just see the policy as racist. More than 40 percent of the school’s students are young people of color—and 17 per- cent of those students are Black, the Globe notes.
The twins’ mother is argu- ing that the policy against hair extensions and braids disproportionately affects Black students.
The student handbook does state that extensions are pro- hibited, along with hair color- ing, makeup, nail polish and tattoos.
However, the twins’ mom still feels a type of way about the policy toward extensions.
Cook, who is white and adopted the twins along with their three other siblings, said that the braided hair “gives them pride.”
She also said that the girls have worn their hair in a sim- ilar manner before and never had any issues until late April, when administrators sud- denly brought the hammer down after spring break.
According to Kathy Granderson, her biracial daughter, Jaden, was one of about 20 girls taken to the ad- ministrators’ office last week and asked whether their braids had any “fake” hair. Granderson said that half the girls ended up in deten- tion, but her daughter did not.
“They marched black and biracial children down the hall” and inspected their hair, Cook said.
Cook’s daughters refused to remove their braids and have since served an hour of detention before school starts each day, and nearly an hour afterward. They have also been kicked out of after- school sports—which espe- cially hurts Deanna, who is on the school’s track team— and even banned from the prom.
Cook has been in contact with the NAACP and the state’s Anti-Defamation League looking for help. The ADL planned to meet with school administrators Friday, Cook confirmed.
Meanwhile, other black girls at the school have faced even harsher punishments.
With John’s support and
Mother’s Day Card Leads
To Young Mom’s Arrest
SPARTANBURG, S.C. -A South Carolina woman is fac- ing a child cruelty charge after allegedly beating her 6-year- old son because he made a Mother’s Day card for his grandmother, but not her.
According to reports, the Spartanburg, S.C. Police De- partment was called to a dis- turbance at a home on Thursday evening at around 6:40 p.m. When they arrived at the scene, they found a grand- mother standing with her two grandchildren, one of whom was in tears. The grandmother told officers that her daughter, the child’s mother, had hit him several times in the front, side and back of his head.
The boy’s sister told investi- gators that their mother, 30- year-old Shontrell Murphy became upset that the boy made Mother’s Day card for his grandmother, but not for her. When Murphy realized the card wasn’t for her, she ripped
Shontrell Murphy was ar- rested for beating her son.
it to pieces and repeatedly smacked the child in his head, the police report notes.
Officers found torn pieces of a handwritten card at the scene.
Murphy, according to the report, acknowledged hitting her son but “does not believe it was in a hard or violent man- ner.” The children reportedly told police that their mother hits them all the time and that they are afraid of her.
She was released from jail on Sunday, Mother’s Day.
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