New Book: Pro Wrestling's Black World Champions by Julian L.D. Shabazz and David L. Shabazz

A new book entitled, “Pro Wrestling’s Black World Champions”, is co-authored by the late Julian L.D. Shabazz, historian and leading authority on the history of African-American wrestlers, and his brother professor and scholar David L. Shabazz.

The book profiles the African American wrestlers who have held the world heavyweight championship in one of the major wrestling companies. The title holders profiled range from Bearcat Wright and Ernie Ladd to The Rock, Booker T, and Jackie Moore.

In addition, it also profiles the heavyweight champions from the days of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) and World Championship Wrestling (WCW) to the current World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and All Elite Wrestling (AEW).

Pro Wrestling’s Black World Champions offers insight into their careers, background, and signature moves and slogans that propelled each wrestler to the top of their respective federation.

The book is available now on Amazon and all bookstores across the United States.

BUY THE BOOK

Congresswoman Nikema Williams Introduces Resolution Commemorating Atlanta Race Massacre

Congresswoman Nikema Williams (GA-05) introduced a resolution commemorating the Atlanta Race Massacre. On September 22, 1906, a mob of 10,000 white supremacists terrorized Black communities throughout Atlanta. At least 25 Black residents were murdered by the white mob and not a single person was held accountable. 

The resolution has 51 original cosponsors. Senator Jon Ossoff (D-GA) will introduce companion legislation in the Senate. 

Congresswoman Nikema Williams (GA-05) said: 

“As a Black woman from the Deep South who represents Atlanta in Congress, I have an obligation to tell this story. By introducing this resolution, I am honoring the victims of the massacre and reaffirming the commitment of the House of Representatives to condemn white supremacy. My resolution is also a step toward healing for the Black communities that were terrorized by the mob of white supremacists. Atlanta has the widest racial wealth gap in the country and one of the contributing factors is that Black families that were thriving fled the city after the massacre. As we atone and move forward, we must commemorate the truth of our past so that history does not repeat itself.”

Senator Jon Ossoff (D-GA) said:

“We must remember and acknowledge our history in full, and that includes the 1906 mob violence that targeted the Black community around Atlanta, took dozens of lives, and displaced thousands.”

Ann Hill Bond, Journalist and Preservationist at Ann Hill Bond Consultants in partnership with Fulton County Remembrance Coalition and Atlanta Voice News said: 

“The stories about African American people are vital to this land. What happened in 1906 was a massacre. We need to remember and honor the lives that were lost. Black residents were killed and terrorized, and truth-telling is our way to healing.”

Kendra Cotton, Chief Operating Officer of The New Georgia Project Action Fund said: 

“We applaud Congresswoman Williams for shedding light on this dark day in the history of Georgia – and Atlanta. For too long, the norm has been to gloss over the history of violence and oppression that Black people face and have faced in this country in the name of protecting white supremacy. This resolution speaks to the realities our ancestors faced and calls us to focus on the real impacts that still echo in our communities today.”

Click here for the text of the resolution. 

Former Minneapolis police officer gets 36 month sentence over role in George Floyd’s death

A Minnesota judge on Wednesday sentenced former Minneapolis police officer Thomas Lane to three years in state prison after he was found guilty earlier this year of violating George Floyd’s civil rights.

Hennepin County District Judge Peter Cahill sentenced Lane after he reached a plea agreement with state prosecutors for a 36-month sentence.

Lane, 39, is already serving a 2 ½ year federal sentence for violating Floyd’s rights when he pinned the 46-year-old Black man down by holding his legs while the officer in charge, Derek Chauvin, kneeled on Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes in May 2020.

Lane pleaded guilty in May to aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter.

[SOURCE: THE HILL]

HHS Awards $3 Million for Initiative to Promote Black Youth Mental Health

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Minority Health (OMH) announced more than $3 million in grants to eight organizations for a new initiative to demonstrate policy effectiveness to promote Black youth mental health (BYMH). This three-year initiative will help identify health and wellness policies that are successful in improving BYMH, including suicide prevention.

“Over the past decade, Black children under age 13 years are twice as likely to die by suicide compared to their White peers,” said RDML Felicia Collins, M.D., Deputy Assistant Secretary for Minority Health. “With this new initiative, we intend to identify specific policies that exhibit a meaningful impact on mental health for Black youth and to spread the word about these effective policy efforts.”

Awardees are expected to use a policy assessment framework to identify existing policies that they expect to promote mental health in Black youth.  Awardees subsequently will test the impact of these policies on Black youth mental health in varied settings, such as schools, faith-based organizations, community centers, health centers, or other community agency settings.

In October 2020, HHS released a report to Congress on African American Youth Suicide. The report analyzed National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS) data between 2014–2017, to examine the risk and precipitating factors in non-Hispanic Black children and non-Hispanic White children aged 10 to 17, who died by suicide. The report also examined youth suicide demographics and epidemiology, risk factors associated with higher suicide rates among Black compared to White youth, and evidence-based interventions to prevent youth suicide ideation and behavior.

The eight new BYMH awardees will conduct their projects across eight states, including Arizona, California, Georgia, Louisiana, Minnesota, Nevada, Ohio, and Rhode Island. The project period for the Demonstrating Policy Effectiveness to Promote Black Youth Mental Health initiative begins on September 30, 2022.

The awardees are:

Award Recipient	Award Amount
The Alcohol, Drug Addiction, and Mental Health Services (ADAMHS) Board for Montgomery County	$400,000
The Amelia Ann Adams Whole Life Center	$350,201
Arizona Board of Regents, University of Arizona	$350,000
Board of Regents, Nevada System of Higher Education, on behalf of The University of Nevada, Reno	$350,000
Institute of Women and Ethnic Studies	$400,000
Minnesota Department of Health	$400,000
Morehouse School of Medicine, Inc.	$399,799
Rhode Island Department of Health	$350,000
Total:	$3,000,000

For more information about OMH, visit www.minorityhealth.hhs.gov.

The HHS Office of Minority Health (OMH) is dedicated to improving the health of racial and ethnic minority populations through the development of health policies and programs that will help eliminate health disparities. Through its demonstration projects, OMH supports the identification of effective approaches for improving health outcomes with the goal of promoting the dissemination and sustainability of these approaches.

BYRON ALLEN'S ALLEN MEDIA GROUP WINS SIGNIFICANT LEGAL VICTORY IN RACIAL DISCRIMINATION-BASED LAWSUIT AGAINST MCDONALD'S

Byron Allen's Allen Media Group (AMG) divisions Entertainment Studios Networks, Inc. ("Entertainment Studios") and Weather Group, LLC ("Weather Group") won a significant legal victory in federal court on Friday, September 16, 2022. The AMG lawsuit initially filed on May 20, 2021 against McDonald's Corporation ("McDonald's") seeks $10 billion in damages for racial discrimination. According to the lawsuit, McDonald's intentionally discriminated against AMG divisions Entertainment Studios and Weather Group through a pattern of racial stereotyping and refusals to contract in violation of the Civil Rights Act of 1866, 42 U.S.C. § 1981, and the California Aruh Civil Rights Act, Cal. Civil Code § 51.5. On Friday, September 16, 2022, defendant McDonald's was denied a Motion to Dismiss by Judge Fernando M. Olguin of the United States District Court for the Central District of California. The case will now proceed to trial before a jury in May 2023.

McDonald's is the world's leading global food service retailer with over 39,000 locations that generate over $100 billion in annual revenue. African Americans represent approximately 40 percent of McDonald's U.S. sales, with McDonald's taking billions of dollars each year from African American consumers. Per the lawsuit, of its approximately $1.6 billion annual advertising budget, McDonald's spends less than approximately $5 million each year on African American-owned media, and it has refused to advertise on Entertainment Studios networks or The Weather Channel since Allen acquired the network in 2018. Per the lawsuit, the McDonald's President and CEO Chris Kempczinski makes approximately $11 million per year, which is more than double what McDonald's spends per year on ALL of Black-owned media combined.

The lawsuit (case number 2:21-cv-04972-FMO-MAA Entertainment Studios Networks, Inc. et al v. McDonald's USA, LLC) alleges that McDonald's refusal to contract is the result of racial stereotyping through McDonald's tiered advertising structure that differentiates on the basis of race. The primary advertising tier for McDonald's is referred to as "general market" and it constitutes the vast majority of McDonald's advertising budget. McDonald's, however, created a separate "African American" tier with a much smaller budget and less-favorable pricing and other terms. McDonald's contracts with a separate ad agency, Burrell Communications, for this African American tier, thereby creating separate and unequal tracks for Black-owned media companies to earn advertising revenue. McDonald's has created a discriminatory environment that is separate but not equal.

According to the lawsuit, McDonald's relegated Entertainment Studios to the less-favorable African American tier even though the companies own and operate television networks that have general market appeal and do not specifically target African American audiences. McDonald's does so because the companies are owned by Allen, an African American. Through this stereotyping, McDonald's prevented Entertainment Studios and Weather Group from accessing McDonald's general market advertising budget and deprived the companies of advertising revenue that otherwise would have been paid if McDonald's treated the companies the same as similarly situated, White-owned companies.

Numerous key points from the court ruling (see attached PDF) that are favorable to the AMG/Entertainment Studios/Weather Group position include, on page 11 of its opinion, the court recognized that racist comments by senior executives—even if not directed to the plaintiff—can evidence racial bias to support a racial discrimination claim under Section 1981. The lawsuit alleges that senior McDonald's executives, including its current CEO, made racially derogatory comments that evidence a culture of racial hostility within the company.

"This is about economic inclusion of African American-owned businesses in the U.S. economy. McDonald's takes billions from African American consumers and gives almost nothing back. The biggest trade deficit in America is the trade deficit between White corporate America and Black America, and McDonald's is guilty of perpetuating this disparity. The economic exclusion must stop immediately," said Byron Allen, Founder/Chairman/CEO of Allen Media Group. "McDonald's CEO Chris Kempczinski got caught sending racist text messages and McDonald's has been sued by the Black franchisees, the Black executives, the Black employees, the Black vendors, and 52 percent of the McDonald's stockholders recently voted to hire a third-party firm to investigate McDonald's for civil rights violations. This is historic!!! The overt and systemic racism at McDonald's is undeniable and indefensible. McDonald's CEO Chris Kempczinski, McDonald's Chief Marketing Officer Morgan Flatley, and the Board of Directors must be fired."

"As alleged in our complaint, McDonald's has engaged in pernicious racial discrimination in violation of federal and state law," said counsel for Mr. Allen and his companies, David Schecter and Skip Miller, partners in Miller Barondess, LLP. "We are confident the jury will recognize the injustice that has occurred here and will award significant damages. We are looking forward to our day in court."