News — Black man

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A very wise man by the name of Danjuma Bihari tells the truth about North-African genetics and the Berber/Amazigh people during a heated argument. (Via Content Over Everything Youtube)

Per his own autobiography, the late Cameroonian businessman, Victor Fotso, made his way through the world as an enterprising youngster selling peanuts. It was one of the popular cash crops grown in the western Cameroonian town of Bandjoun.

Soon enough, Fotso became a trader who dealt in anything that sold off the shelves and quickly. He opened a shop in Mbalmayo in central Cameroon in 1947. The business was great because by 1960, while still under 40, Fotso diversified into commercial transportation. And then Pierre Castel, the founder of Caste Group, now France’s largest producer of wine, came to town after Cameroon gained independence.

Fotso became Castel’s chief partner in Cameroon, distributing Castel’s beverages. After a decade of his relationship with Castel and other French investors, Fotso was known to have had investments in agricultural produce, petrochemicals, hospitality and electric batteries. In 1997, he would open the first private Cameroonian-owned bank, Commercial Bank of Cameroon (CBC).

Between 1996 and 2020 when he died, Fotso was the mayor of his native Badjoun. He was respected as a self-made man and President Paul Biya could count on him for reasons political and more. Fotso also had as many as 25 women with whom he birthed 121 women, according to various reports. And so when he died at the ripe old age of 94 leaving behind more than $200 million, drama was very much expected.

It has been reported that Fotso may have allocated more than $3.5 million for his own funeral. That was the first point of the family fracas that has seen factions formed among the 146 heirs. Suspicions that some of Fotso’s heirs want to pocket the money for themselves have been stated. His eldest son, Roger, had to put out a press release reminding all his relatives that the departed patriarch was a respected man whose memory could not be denigrated over this issue.

Funeral funds are not the only thing splitting Fotso’s family. There are suspicions that his last will in testament could have been forged and that matter has ended them in court. Yet, it does seem to an outsider that some among Fotso’s living relations feel the need to be heard now lest they are lost when his largesse is shared. State investigators have been combing through his offices across the country for any and all relevant documents pertaining to his estates.

Other factions, led by Yves-Michel Fotso, a man who is supposed to be serving a life sentence in Cameroon but managed to find his way to Morocco, are desperate to get down to the extent of Fotso real estate holdings. This particular angle involves a former Cameroonian soccer star who married one of Fotso’s daughters and became an administrator of the businessman’s real estate holdings.

In the meantime, the funeral of Fotso has stalled as the legal battles rage on. In Cameroon and among many international observers, eyes are firmly fixed on the intrigue in the Fotso family.

The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit has ordered a White South Carolina restaurant manager to pay $546,000 as restitution to a Black man with intellectual disabilities after he forced him to work at an eatery under his management for five years without pay.

The recent ruling comes after a district court initially ordered 56-year-old Bobby Paul Edwards to pay $273,000 to John Christopher Smith in unpaid wages and overtime compensation after he reached a plea deal with authorities in 2019, The Washington Post reported. Edwards, who ran the J&J Cafeteria in Conway, was also sentenced to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to one count of forced labor.

However, an April 21 ruling by the appellate court determined the district court “had erred” in not calculating the initial amount based on federal labor laws – meaning Smith was actually entitled to $546,000 or twice the amount. Smith, who worked at the restaurant from 2009 to 2014 without any remuneration, was also subjected to physical and racial abuse by Edwards during that period. Smith was also reportedly forced to work for over 100 hours every week and was not entitled to any day-offs.

“When an employer fails to pay those amounts (regular and overtime pay), the employee suffers losses, which includes the loss of the use of that money during the period of delay,” the ruling determined.

Smith, 43, started working at the eatery as a dishwasher and table busser in 1990 at the age of 12. And though he initially did not have any issues with the previous restaurant managers, things started to go south when Edwards took over in 2009. With the now-convicted Edwards in charge, Smith was denied his salary and was treated without any respect for human decency.

Edwards forced the Black worker to move into an apartment that was infested with roaches, The Washington Post reported. Smith’s attorneys said the apartment, which belonged to Edwards, was “sub-human,” “deplorable” and “harmful to human health.” Besides that, a Department of Justice report also stated Edwards subjected Smith to physical abuse. This included beating him into submission, whipping him with a belt, knocking him with pots and pans, and at one time, burning him with hot grease. Edwards also prevented Smith from having any contact with his family and threatened to call the police on him.

“Most of the time I felt unsafe, like Bobby could kill me if he wanted,” Smith said, per court documents. “I wanted to get out of that place so bad but couldn’t think about how I could without being hurt.”

Edwards was eventually arrested in 2014 after a lady whose daughter-in-law worked at the restaurant reported him to authorities. Workers at the restaurant were initially hesitant to report Edwards out of fear of retaliation from him.

“For stealing his victim’s freedom and wages, Mr. Edwards has earned every day of his sentence,” U.S. Attorney for the District of South Carolina Sherri A. Lydon reportedly said after his 2019 sentencing. “The U.S. attorney’s office will not tolerate forced or exploitative labor in South Carolina, and we are grateful to the watchful citizen and our partners in law enforcement who put a stop to this particularly cruel violence.”

Robert F. Smith, regarded as the richest Black man in America, has acquired majority ownership of advertising platform TripleLift, expanding his investment portfolio in multiple businesses.

The African-American billionaire made a $1.4 billion investment in acquiring a majority stake in the web advertising platform, according to Moguldom.

Smith closed the deal, which is expected to come into fruition in the second quarter of 2021, through his global investment firm, Vista Equity Partners, a press release said.

Vista Equity focuses on enterprise software, data, and technology-enabled businesses and is expected to help drive further innovation across TripleLift and accelerate global growth.

“We have developed into a leader in the advertising technology space and are excited about our next chapter,” co-founder and CEO of TripleLift Eric Berry said. “When looking for an investment partner, we placed a premium on a deep understanding of ad tech and a willingness to lean into developing our portfolio of innovative, high-growth products. Vista is that partner.”

Smith’s Vista Equity Partners, a private equity company he founded in 2000, has carved a niche for itself, fixing up enterprise software outfits. Today, it has a value of about $50 billion in assets and it is also regarded as one of the best-performing private equity firms.

“Vista is pleased to partner with TripleLift and we have a tremendous runway for growth,” said Rod Aliabadi, Managing Director at Vista Equity Partners. “We look forward to continued market leadership in programmatic, further catalyzing our opportunity in CTV and building upon our expansion into priority international markets across Europe and Asia.”

According to the press release, after the close of the transaction, Eric Berry will remain as CEO and will continue serving on the Board of Directors. True Ventures and Edison Partners, two early investors in TripleLift, will remain invested in the company, the statement added.

Founded in 2012 by Ari Lewine, TripleLift has handled more than 40 trillion ad transactions across desktop, mobile, and connected TV in 2020, the press release said.

TripleLift has “created unique value to an entire ecosystem of companies,” said Michael Fosnaugh, co-head of the Vista Flagship Fund and senior managing director.

Smith trended in 2019 when he paid off the student debts of Morehouse’s graduating class. He subsequently donated $50 million in 2020 to ease the burden of students attending Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs).

Records show that HBCU students do borrow loans at higher rates than students at other types of institutions. Also, on average, Black college students graduate from bachelor’s degree programs owing $7,400 more than their white peers.

The businessman with a bias for educational and entrepreneurship development is among a growing number of high-net-worth Black personalities who are using their wealth to improve society.

Many desire to rent a place where they can have a good landlord. While the idea seems impossible, a Black founder has created a solution that allows renters to have a fair idea of the property they are moving into and its owner.

Ofo Ezeugwu had the idea during his days at Temple University when he was the VP of the student body. He heard horrific stories of students who lived on and outside campus about how they are being harassed by their landlords or living in infested apartments.

“I was running for the VP of Temple’s student body during my junior year (2012). At one of our late-night meetings, we were discussing ways to help students with off-campus living,” he told.

“I thought aloud, ‘what if students could rate their landlords, that way those coming in behind them would know what to expect before ever signing a lease?’ The students loved the idea and our team eventually won the campaign with, at the time, “Rate Your Landlord” on our platform,” he said.

Ezeugwu founded “WhoseYourLandlord”, which allows users to submit reviews of their landlords to help potential renters to avoid difficult and troublesome landlords. WhoseYourLandlord, a multipurpose online platform, is also aimed at increasing housing literacy in communities.

Since launching the platform, WhoseYourLandlord has raised $1.1 million and reviewed by some 22,000 landlords across over 250 cities in the United States. The ApartmentTherapy.com describes the platform as “The MVP of Landlord Review Sites.” Ezeugwu’s initial funding, about $25,000, was from family and friends and he secured an additional $20,000 from pitch competitions.

Ezeugwu has received many questions regarding the name of his company. But he explains that he chose the possessive form of the word “who” because he is giving renters ownership of the situation by putting housing in their hands.

“Here at WYL, we truly believe in the concept that knowledge is power. The ability to move word of mouth onto an online platform that can be of more use in highlighting positive people to work with and revealing negative situations prior to you finding yourself in one is tremendously needed,” he said.

The Philly native was recently recognized as a Disruptive and Innovative Entrepreneur by NBCUniversal and New York On Tech. In 2018, he was named the Young Professional of the Year by the African American Chamber of Commerce and also named as one of BET’s #30Under30.

He is also a model and actor who has been featured on the Today show, Philly Fashion Week and Brooklyn Fashion Week, BET reported.

Ezeugwu has been instrumental in the fight against Covid-19 in Philadelphia where almost half of residents are renters. The pandemic led to job losses and many struggling to renew their rent bills. He partnered up with Walmart to disburse $25,000 for rent relief to help 50 Philadelphia families amid the COVID-19 pandemic, according to reports.

“With everything happening amidst COVID, in one of our meetings they were asking us to highlight issues that we’re seeing they could help us address,” said Ezeugwu. “And I was like ‘look my company is in the housing space. We have a non-profit that’s focused on the intersection between housing and mental health.”

Kevin Livingston is the Founder and CEO of 100 Suits for 100 Men. Founded in 2011, the organization was created to serve the needs of men and women in need of business attire in New York City.

In 2015, the organization obtained 501 (c)(3) non-profit status and expanded its programs beyond suits. 100 Suits has tackled socio-economic issues and has been an integral part of the communities they serve. Recently, the organization shifted to food delivery work to support seniors and others in need during the pandemic.

“No one could have told me that when I started the senior delivery in the first week of March…that it would turn into a Cutlery program,” says Livingston. “And we would hire several young people from our community people to run it. Truly amazing!”

100 Suits Supporting Families During Pandemic

When the pandemic hit in March 2020,  millions of Americans were faced with unexpected challenges. Livingston decided to step up to the plate, organize a team of individuals, and make a difference where it was needed most.

On March 6th, Livingston created a senior delivery program to help those most vulnerable to the woes of the pandemic. Since March, 100 Suits has delivered over 22,000 home groceries and meals to seniors in Queens, New York. Through the 100 Soups Program, the organization provided weekly home-cooked soups to families in homeless shelters. The organization also developed the #Feed500 initiative to provide fresh produce boxes.

Livingston created a culinary program for youth to fuel these initiatives. During the summer, the youth came together and cooked meals to be delivered to seniors. This program created 12 new jobs for youth who were impacted by the cancellation of traditional jobs.

100 Suits was also there to provide personal protective equipment (PPE). The team distributed 30,000 PPE which included masks and sanitizer.

Building the Next Generation of Leaders

100 Suits has been on the move since the pandemic started. The organization has been able to help the most marginalized individuals in Queens, ranging from underprivileged youth to seniors.

“As I look back we have done a lot and one of the proudest moments I have is our senior program is supervised by an 18 yr old,” says Livingston in an email to Black Enterprise. “I love my team because they along with myself put our lives on the line to help others.”

Even during the pandemic, 100 Suits has stayed true to its core mission: providing resources that create employment opportunities. Before the pandemic, this outreach came in the form of suits, free haircuts, and salon referrals. Colin Kaepernick has been an instrumental supporter, donating custom suits to prepare more men and women for job interviews.

Now, the organization has been a part of the job creation process. 100 Suits provided 10 jobs to formerly incarcerated men and women to become Social Distance Community Ambassadors. The team handed out PPE masks and sanitizers, They also encouraged testing to ensure the safety of residents.

“Children, young men, and men of color need to see people like themselves represented in a positive light by “ordinary” people. Furthermore, it provides a framework for them to understand that dreams coupled with hard work lead to success and empowerment. It speaks to possibility, demonstrates hope, and has the capacity to spur someone else to pursue their dreams despite the lack of initial support.”

A Black man has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the Chicago Police Department alleging he was violently arrested for no reason whatsoever during an incident that left him with facial injuries last year.

In an interview with KABC-TV, the plaintiff – Leroy Kennedy IV – reiterated his innocence, saying the incident has left him traumatized. Kennedy said he ended up spending four days in jail and an aggravated battery of a police officer charge against him was later dropped.

“It left me feeling traumatized. Man, I ain’t gonna lie. You get nervous. You get even more nervous once you see the police,” he said.

Kennedy said the incident occurred when he was on his way to a store in Humboldt Park. He alleged he was confronted by two Chicago Police officers who roughed him up and slammed him to a brick wall, adding that his head was also hit against a sidewalk more than once. The incident was reportedly witnessed by angry bystanders who called the officers out for their actions. Kennedy told the news outlet he suffered a concussion and injuries to his wrist and hand. The arrest also left him with visible grazes on his face.

“I told him like ‘Sir, I’m not resisting. I just want to get my glasses,” he told the news outlet. “He slammed me again thinking I’m resisting.” The video camera footage of the incident also shows Kennedy walking unsteadily as the officers escort him into a patrol car in handcuffs.

Per the police report, the officers wrote they confronted Kennedy as he had “a shocked look on his face” when he saw them, adding that they suspected he was “attempting to conceal a firearm,” KABC-TV reported. Kennedy was, however, not armed and he did not also have any drugs on him. The officers could not also fully explain the motive behind the arrest to supervisors when they arrived.

“The police couldn’t even pretend he did anything,” Kennedy’s attorney said. “So you have a police report which gives no description of a crime and no reason for approaching him, other than his bulging eyes.”

The lawsuit states Kennedy is seeking “compensatory damages and because defendants acted maliciously, wantonly, or oppressively, punitive damages against the individual (officers) in their individual capacities,” CNN reported. Additionally, the plaintiff also seeks court as well as attorney fees.

A father from South Carolina is full of joy after winning custody of his daughter who was adopted by a new family without his permission. Christopher Emanuel said his girlfriend put their newborn daughter, Skyler, up for adoption without telling him.

“…I was hurt, I was confused because I wanted to ensure that I could be there for my child,” Emanuel said.

In South Carolina, fathers can sign up on the responsible fatherhood registry, an online database through DSS that tells the state that you have a child. Emanuel had filed on February 14, 2014, to be added as Skyler’s father on the registry, which must notify him if her mother puts her up for adoption.

However, when a Southern California family filed to adopt her a few days later (February 19), Emanuel was not added to their paperwork as the biological father. At that moment, Emanuel said he didn’t know if he would ever see his daughter again. But after months of contesting the adoption through a court in Aiken County, where Skyler was born, he got his daughter back; the judge granted him sole custody of his daughter.

“This was my opportunity to prove that I was deprived of that my constitution and state rights were violated,” he said.

“Aiken County Judicial Center this is where it went down at. But when I’m here being in this space it fills me with joy, I feel safe because Aiken County brought my daughter home where she belongs,” said Emanuel, who was inspired by his case to start the Sky Is The Limit Foundation where he travels across the U.S. educating fathers on their parental rights.

Attracting business investment, particularly to third world countries like Haiti, has always been a challenge. Therefore, the burden of job creation turns to be on the government, despite scarce resources and its limited abilities.

One of the appeals of the Haiti government is for members of the Haitian diaspora to remit home for job creation and participate in the general growth of the country’s economy. While some have responded positively to the call, others have stayed away due to limited infrastructure. 

Jude Celiscar is one of those Haitians in the diaspora who is determined to contribute to the economy of Haiti. He co-founded Goodoo Courier, a shipping company in 2017. The idea to start a courier service business occurred to him after noticing the difficulties Haitians face in buying and delivery of consumer goods.

He recalls how people will contract him to bring them certain goods from the United States and when he arrives in Haiti, they repay him for the purchases. 

Celiscar also realized the challenge many Haitians face purchasing goods online. Part of the problem was the lack of credit or payment plans. This challenge, he says, made it difficult for companies to ship to Haiti. 

Goodoo Courier delivers goods through a network of independent contractors. Compared to other courier firms, goodoo offers fast delivery of parcels at a cheaper rate, Celiscar says.

Although Celiscar has not disclosed his sales record, he tells the Haitiantimes that “it is neither profitable nor a deficit. We work with what we have.”

His pre-occupation remains to create job opportunities for young people in Haiti. Celiscar would like, in the long run, maybe 10 years down the line, for Goodoo to be one of the companies in Haiti that employs at least 5,000 people.

Celiscar is the first college graduate from his family to earn a bachelor’s degree. He graduated from the University of Texas at Dallas with a degree in international political economy.

Celiscar survived a major earthquake in 2010, which led to the destruction of many homes and school facilities in Haiti. The disaster killed over 220,000 people and 1.5 million people.

“My school basically collapsed, that building that we had before is no longer there,” Celiscar explained, according to NBC. But Celiscar was determined to pursue higher education

“I know some people could have been discouraged and say ‘I’m not doing this anymore. I’ll just stay here and work,’” Celiscar said, according to the University of Texas, Dallas. “It was hard, but I always see myself as a fighter. These things can’t stop me from focusing on my dream, on my goal.”

Forbes named him as one of 10 young Haitian entrepreneurs working to reinvent their nation.

Fatoumata Danson, a 39-year-old Gambian immigrant residing in New York, was fatally shot in the head by her 22-year-old son in retaliation for allegedly kicking him out of her home and telling him to get a job, family members said.

According to NBC New York, the incident occurred in Danson’s apartment at Lehman Village in Harlem on Tuesday, January 26. The accused – identified as Musa Camara – was later apprehended by the police somewhere around the neighborhood while still armed with the murder weapon.

Following his arrest, police said he underwent a psychiatric evaluation at a hospital. Distraught relatives who spoke to the news outlet said they want the accused to face the full rigors of the law, with Danson’s brother, Yaku Basangari, saying he wants his nephew Camara to “to rot in jail for the rest of his life.” Besides Camara, Danson had seven other children.

Basangari, who described his sister as lovely and kind, said the family immigrated to New York City from Gambia and Sierra Leone in the 1990s in search of greener pastures. “She always smiled and laughed,” he said.

Asked what may have been the motive behind Camara fatally shooting his own mother, Basangari said it was because his nephew is a “lazy bastard.” “My sister told him to get a job, threw him out of the house…and this was his reaction,” he added.

Meanwhile, the New York Daily News reported Camara was due to appear before the Manhattan Criminal Court on the day of the shooting for earlier threatening to kill Danson. Authorities had also provided Danson with a “panic button” she could press for help after she was granted an order of protection against Camara. He flouted that order when he went to her apartment to kill her.

Prior to the shooting, Camara was initially facing charges related to body-slamming his deceased mother before telling her, “I will kill you”, during a confrontation in her apartment last year. The police also reportedly visited the home several times to break up altercations between the two.

“She is an immigrant in this country, come and look for a better life and she got killed by her own son,” Yankuba Sangarie, another brother of Danson, told the New York Post.

“I want him to go the rest of his life in prison,” he emotionally added. “My nephew- I want him to go life in prison, no mercy for him.”

Camara has been charged with murder.

An infamous White Supremacist shop and museum in South Carolina that was also the meeting place of the Ku Klux Klan and was once regarded as the “World’s Only Klan Museum”, is set to be converted into a community center in an effort to educate and combat racial injustice.

The project is being spearheaded by Rev. David Kennedy, pastor of the New Beginning Missionary Baptist Church, and Regan Freeman. The two are the founders of the Echo Project – a “nonprofit dedicated to healing racial division and standing against hatred through dialogue, empathy, and understanding.”

Formerly known as the Redneck Shop, the establishment, which is situated on the same building as the now-closed and previously segregated Echo Theater in downtown Laurens, was opened in 1996 until it was forced to ultimately shut down in 2012, according to CNN. The shop once sold White nationalist and neo-Nazi paraphernalia as well as Confederate memorabilia and Klan attire.

“We don’t want to just have a museum to tell this story, the struggle for justice, and the fight against the Klan, but we also want to detail what happened here to make sure it never happens again,” Freeman told the news outlet. “The Echo Theater went from being a segregated movie theater to a literal Klan’s store to being in the possession of a Black minister, and it is about to become a place for reconciliation, justice and healing.”

Following the opening of the shop in 1996 by its previous owners and KKK members, John Howard and Michael Burden, Kennedy actively and vehemently protested against its operation and called for its closure – an action that put him in the bad books of the KKK. The Klan members even contemplated killing him at a certain point.

Things, however, took a very positively shocking turn when Kennedy surprisingly became friends with Burden after the latter had a dispute with his former partner, Howard. Kennedy told CNN he offered Burden security as well as accommodation and food for him and his family despite his background. Their unlikely friendship inspired the 2018 true-life movie, Burden.

After the two established their friendship, Burden, in need of cash, sold the property’s deed to Kennedy and his church, The Post and Courier reported. Burden had earlier become the owner of the property in 1997. A clause in the deed agreement, however, stated Kennedy was prohibited from doing anything to the property until Howard passed away.

The shop was, however, forced to close in 2012 after a judge declared Kennedy and his church as the rightful owners of the property following a 15-year court battle between the preacher and Howard.

With that being sorted, Kennedy later set his sights at transforming the shop, with Freeman eventually partnering with him. The two have so far raised over $375,000 to convert the building into a community center. Upon completion, the new establishment will showcase paraphernalia and memorabilia from the Redneck Shop, as well as set up educational classrooms, all with the aim of fostering remembrance and reconciliation, CNN reported.