The Official Ill Community Black Excellence Thread

[Maximus Rex]

The Richest African American Actors, con'd

#3 – Samuel L. Jackson (Net Worth: $150 Million)

Not only is Samuel L. Jackson number 3 on this list, but he is also considered the number 2 most profitable actor of all time, as the total sum of all of his roles combined have reached over a staggering $7 billion. Jackson was born in Washington D.C. in the year 1948. As a child he fell in love with the ocean and its inhabitants and was all set to go to Morehouse College in Georgia to become a marine biologist (great choice!) but as time went on he decided to change majors to theater, after being involved in a local acting group. During his college years he became extremely involved with the Black Power movement. After Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated, Jackson took to the streets and began joining protests. Jackson’s mother, who feared for his safety eventually convinced Jackson to pack his things and head out to Los Angeles.

He would next start to appear in television shows and eventually gravitate towards movies. The first movie Jackson would be involved in was the 1972 independent film Together for Days. Other films in his early career include Do the Right Thing and Goodfellas. Around this time is when Jackson became addicted to heroin and cocaine. It became very severe and in fact he overdosed multiple times. Luckily he went to rehab and managed to kick the habit. Afterwards he would play a cocaine addict in the film Jungle Fever:

“It was a funny kind of thing. By the time I was out of rehab, about a week or so later I was on set and we were ready to start shooting [Jungle Fever].”

Jackson would go on to appear in other movies like Patriot Games and Jurassic Park. But it wasn’t until 1993 when he played Jules Winnfield in Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction that Jackson became a household name. Critics praised his performance in the film and since then he has gone on to choose any role he wants. Some of his most popular roles include: Snakes on a Plane, Star Wars Episodes 1 – 3, Unbreakable, Django Unchained and The Hateful Eight.

In 2008, Jackson was approached by Marvel Studios where they would get permission to base the Ultimate Universe version of Nick Fury on him. He agreed and went on to play the live version of him during the after credits scene in Iron Man. Since then he has continued playing Nick Fury in several more Marvel films, as he signed a contract to appear in nine total films for the studio.

#2 – Will Smith (Net Worth: $240 Million)

I don’t think there is a single person on the planet who doesn’t know who Will Smith is. This legendary actor was born in 1968 to parents Willard and Caroline Smith. As he grew up, Will and his friend Jeffrey started a duo hip-hop group. Although Will received high SAT scores and easily could have gotten accepted to Massachusetts Institute of Technology, he chose to not attend college and instead focus on his rap group. During the late ‘80s he and Jeffrey would become very successful and go on to win the very first Grammy for the Rap category.

Will’s success would continue as he went on to star in his own sitcom called The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. It was during this time that Will Smith would become a household name. When the show ended in 1996 he would go on to receive international fame with the start of his film career. He first appeared in the blockbusters Bad Boys and Independence Day. With the success of those movies he was offered the part of Neo in The Matrix but turned it down to instead appear alongside Kevin Kline in Wild Wild West. The movie would be a box office bomb but since then Will has gone on to appear in several other blockbusters, including: Hancock, Men in Black (and its sequels), Shark Tale, Hitch, Ali, I Robot and The Pursuit of Happyness.

These days, Will is more interested in appearing in films alongside his children: Jaden and Willow Smith. He has appeared alongside them in films like After Earth and I Am Legend. Lately it seems he is also interested in appearing alongside Australian beauty Margot Robbie, as they’ve already shot one movie together called Focus and are working together alongside DC’s anti-hero drama Suicide Squad.

#1 – Tyler Perry (Net Worth: $400 Million)

It should be a surprise to no one that Tyler Perry has topped the charts as the richest African-American actor as not only does he star in movies but he also directs, produces and writes the material for his films. It may seem like Tyler Perry has a great life but it hasn’t always been that way. Born in 1969 to parents Emmitt and Willie-Maxine Perry, Tyler would endure childhood trauma from his father beating him. As a way to cope with the beatings, his loving mother took him to church every week where Tyler would find solace in prayer. His upbringing would inspire him to create strong female characters that are based on his mother and sisters who also had to endure much pain.

When Tyler was in his 20s he just happened to watch an episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show and in that particular episode it dealt with writing and how therapeutic the process of coming up with storylines and characters can be. This inspired Tyler to write his very first play. For the first couple of years the play, which he titled I Know I’ve Been Changed, met with negative reviews. Rather than give up completely he continued to rewrite scenes until finally it started to see some success. Since then, Tyler Perry has gone on to write, direct and perform in some very high grossing films.

In 2006, Tyler created the Madea character in the movie Madea’s Family Reunion. Since then the Madea franchise has gone on to receive seven sequels, one being an animated movie. Tyler has also created six shows which he occasionally makes appearances in: Tyler Perry’s House of Payne, Meet the Browns, Love Thy Neighbor, The Haves and the Have Nots, For Better or Worse and If Loving You Is Wrong.

Outside of his own productions he has appeared in some other successful movies, namely: Star Trek (2009), Precious and Alex Cross. His next big-screen appearance will happen later this year alongside Megan Fox and Stephen Amell in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows.

And that’s a wrap up for the list of the richest African-American actors. Going through the list there isn’t really any surprises, as all of these gentlemen have earned their spot in the limelight. Many of these actors have gone on to inspire other people to get into the acting business which is all any great actor can do.

 

[Maximus Rex]

Black-Owned Craft Beer Company Gets Premium Placement in Wal-Mart

Celeste Beatty says she expects her Harlem Brewing Co.’s profits to rise more than 20 percent after going into the mega retailer. Plus, she’s all hopped up with plans for 2016.
http://www.theroot.com/articles/new...g_company_gets_premium_placement_in_wal_mart/
http://community.allhiphop.com/disc...er-company-gets-premium-placement-in-wal-mart

BY: ANGELA BRONNER HELM

Posted: February 23, 2016

The Harlem Brewing Co.’s Celeste Beatty

HARLEM BREWING CO.

Harlem has a special place in the American imagination when it comes to culture, art and music. But would you also imagine small-batch beer? Well.

The Harlem Brewing Co. is a 15-year-old microbrewery founded in its namesake New York community. In March the company will be stocking its wares front and center in 39 Wal-Mart stores across the state.

“I hope it turns into a Patti-pies situation,” Celeste Beatty, owner of Harlem Brewing, said, laughing, during a phone call with The Root.

Beatty got onto Wal-Mart’s radar after an exec saw her on an MSNBC segment with Tamron Hall. She says that people were also calling the retailer and asking for the brand—which currently includes Sugar Hill Golden Ale, Harlem Renaissance Wit and Strawberry Hard Cider—by name. With the Wal-Mart deal, Beatty says she expects sales to increase by as much as 20 percent.

“I didn’t really know that Wal-Mart was really a crafty retail place, but I’ve had a chance to talk to them, and I have noticed, not only with the beer, [that] a lot of their produce and other products come from local markets. So it was encouraging to see that, because … what I hear is so much of their stuff comes from China,” she says.

Beatty’s yeast-fermented quest began a lifetime ago when she started brewing 5-gallon batches of craft beer around the corner from her Harlem apartment. These days, she is growing her own hops both in her backyard and on a farm in upstate New York. “I’m actually getting pretty deep into it,” she says, noting that after nine years, growing the annuals is like phoning it in.

The Shaw University grad grew up in Winston-Salem, N.C., and admits that she used to be a “future farmer of America.” Be that as it may, she never imagined that she would be bringing her agricultural roots to Harlem. But in retrospect, it makes perfect sense.

“It was instinctive to go into this whole craft beer culture. It’s so aligned with so many things I love, like cooking and gardening,” explains Beatty, who says on her website that craft beer is like her mother’s amazing homemade soups (almost).

In an ad for her first beer, Sugar Hill Golden Ale, Beatty calls out a pantheon of the best and brightest in music—Dizzy, Duke, Lionel, Billie, Herbie, Winton, Tito and Ray, among others—and says “thanks for the recipe.”

“It connects people around causes that I’m passionate about in communities like Harlem, Detroit and Atlanta,” she says. “They connect around this whole energy of music and history and our own experiences in the Diaspora, which is so much a part of American culture.”

The New York Post reports that a Wal-Mart spokesperson said that craft beer is a growing category for the retail behemoth, and it is seeking brewers in the U.S. as part of a $250 billion investment over 10 years, supporting American manufacturing jobs.

“They didn’t ask me to lower the price, which was nice,” Beatty says of Wal-Mart. “That was something I was surprised about, because everyone said I would take a hit. I’m selling to them for the same price I do any other retail.” Harlem Brewing Co. six-packs cost between $10 and $12.

Beatty says she’s shooting to get floor-display space this year and hopes to move into Wal-Mart stores in other states. Currently, she is on retail shelves in New York, Atlanta, the Carolinas and Detroit.

The glass is certainly full for 2016. Beatty will be teaching a “Brew U” class at the City College of New York next semester, “The Art of Brewing From Africa to America,” and she recently put in an offer on a space in West Harlem for a production brewery, which will include a tasting room.

 

[Maximus Rex]

Black History Month: 12 Facts About Jerry Lawson, Creator Of The Video Game Cartridge

23 February 2015, 5:08 pm EST By Kevin L. Clark Tech Times
http://www.techtimes.com/articles/34649/20150223/jerry-lawson.htm

Thank Gerald "Jerry" Anderson Lawson for inventing the first home game console that took interchangeable cartridges. ( Museum Of Play | The Estate Of Jerry Lawson )

An early computer hobbyist's club in Southern California has some pretty heady history behind it. You'd be hard pressed to match the geek cred of some of its members -- Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, for example -- and Jerry Lawson.

The late Gerald Anderson Lawson, known as Jerry, along with Ron Jones, were the only two members of color of the Homebrew Computer Club in Silicon Valley.

The club began in 1975 when hobbyists, most with an electronic engineering or computer programming background, met to talk about the Altair 8800 and to exchange schematics and programming tips.

The Brooklyn, N.Y.-born electronic engineer, taught himself everything he knew about designing. His impressive creation of the Fairchild Channel F video game console separated him from his contemporaries such as Nolan Bushnell and Ralph Baer.

The Fairchild Channel F console was released by Fairchild Semiconductor in November 1976 and was the first programmable ROM cartridge-based video game console, as well as the first console to use a microprocessor. Baer wrote the first video game played on a TV set, called Chase, and in 1972 Bushnell helped create the game Pong and later that year started Atari Computers.

But it was Lawson's main distinction as the inventor of the video game cartridge, something that seems simple now, that set the standard for how video games were played for the next 30 years. The cartridges were sold separately, unlike previous games that were built into the hardware.

"The whole reason I did games was because people said, 'You can't do it.' I'm one of the guys, if you tell me I can't do something, I'll turn around and do it," said Lawson to San Jose Mercury News reporters.

As we continue to celebrate Black History Month, we are honored to introduce those who are unfamiliar with Lawson's work and history, and help highlight some significant moments during his career.

1. Lawson Was A Self-Taught Engineer

While growing up in the projects of Queens in New York City, Lawson got a start on his lifelong tinkering. His love for all things electronic and gadget-y compelled him toward the engineer side of things. As a youth, he operated his own ham radio and as a teenager he made money by repairing his neighbors' television sets.

2. Lawson Founded And Ran His Own Company

Videosoft, a video game development company, was created by Lawson, who used it to produce cartridges for the Atari 2600. When the 2600 came out, it effectively made the Channel F obsolete. Unfortunately, the company only released one, which was a technician's tool called Color Bar Generator.

3. Lawson Was In A Group That Had Steve Jobs As A Member

The Homebrew Computer Club, an early collective of computer hobbyists, would go on to produce such other legends as Apple founders Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak. Lawson and Jones were the only black members, Jones developed a way to reprogram inkjet printers to enable desktop computers to produce silk-screen quality printing, and later came up with the idea for transforming Nintendo's Game Boy into a portable music player in 1999.

4. Lawson Was Honored By The International Game Developers Association

On the eve of his eventual passing, in March 2011, Lawson was honored as an industry pioneer by the International Game Developers Association. His accomplishments as an engineer and inventor were appreciated by the IGDA. A month later he passed away from complications of diabetes.

5. Lawson Produced One Of The Industry's Earliest Arcade Games

Debuting in a southern California pizzeria only a few months after Allan Alcorn's Pong, Lawson's Demolition Derby marked one of the earliest arcade games in the industry. Lawson would go on to work with the Stanford University mentor program in an attempt to write a book on his career.

(Photo : Kreg Steppe | Flickr) Atari 2600 game cartridges.

6. Lawson Developed A Game Console That Utilized Interchangeable Cartridges

The Fairchild Channel F, albeit not reaching the heights of popularity likes the Atari, Nintendo and Sega, did have one thing above its competition: an interchangeable game cartridge. Predating the Atari's video computer system by a year, the Channel F released 26 cartridges that ranged from sci-fi (Space War) to cards (Blackjack) to sports (Bowling). Game machines like the Atari and the Magnavox Odyssey (created by the late, great Ralph Baer) all had their games built into the hardware.

 

[Maximus Rex]

Black History Month: 12 Facts About Jerry Lawson, Creator Of The Video Game Cartridge, con't

7. Lawson Was The First Major African-American Figure In Video Games

Few within the growing video games industry could believe that a microprocessor would work independently within a console. Lawson not only innovated the culture, he also diversified it with his impressive invention. The Channel F home gaming console was designed by Mr. Lawson using the Fairchild F8 CPU, which was the first public outing of said processor. The F8 was very complex in relation to the typical integrated circuits of the era, and it had more inputs and outputs than other contemporary chips. Back in that time, chip packaging was not available with enough pins, but the F8 was fabricated as a pair of chips that were used together to form a complete CPU.

8. Lawson's Parents Encouraged His Growth In Gaming

His father, a longshoreman, had a strong affinity for all things science. At a young age, Lawson was gifted interesting items like an Irish mail, which is a handcar typically used by railroad workers. His mother was so vested into his education that she made it so that Jerry attended a well-regarded elementary school. She eventually became the president of the PTA.

9. Lawson Was Inspired By George Washington Carver

"I had a picture of George Washington Carver on the wall next to my desk,"he told Vintage Computing in an interview. "And she [my first grade teacher] said, 'This could be you.' I mean, I can still remember that picture, still remember where it was."

10. Lawson's Geek Cred Was Infallible

From repairing his neighbor's television sets to running an amateur radio station out of his housing project, Lawson taught himself most of what he knew about engineering. He attended Queens College and the City College of New York before taking his talents to places like Grumman Electric and Federal Aircraft. He went from running an antenna out of his window with a radio license to being an influential part of Silicon Valley.

11. Lawson's Invention Caught The Attention Of The FCC

Nobody had ever done something like what Lawson was proposing. Interchangeable cartridges was a new concept.With that said, the FCC was interested in how Lawson beat them to the punch in creating his own microprocessor. Every cartridge that Lawson produced (26 to be exact) had to be approved by the FCC.

12. Lawson Advocated For More African-Americans In STEM

Standing at 6 feet, 6 inches tall, Lawson was a sight to behold in an industry mostly relegated to nerd culture. According to an interview he did with Vintage Computing, race affected his job prospects "as both a plus and a minus." If he did well, he would receive widespread notoriety. If he failed, it would be marked as an expected disappointment. Through it all, he encouraged other young black men and women to become invested in science and engineering careers.

 

[Maximus Rex]

The First African-American Piano Manufacturer

http://www.npr.org/sections/ablogsupreme/2014/05/07/309881323/the-first-african-american-piano-manufacturer
http://community.allhiphop.com/disc...the-first-african-american-piano-manufacturer

May 7, 20144:21 PM ET

WILLARD JENKINS

Willard Jenkins May 07, 2014

At the Mid-Atlantic Jazz Festival in February, one couldn't help but notice the striking new grand piano on the main stage, emblazoned with the name SHADD. When the many accomplished pianists that wee­­kend sat down to strike those keys, it was equally easy to spot their delight in the instrument.

That piano was the product of a trailblazer in his field. The Shadd in question is jazz drummer Warren Shadd, the first African-American piano manufacturer. That makes him the first large-scale commercial African-American instrument manufacturer, period.

For Shadd, piano making is part of his birthright. His grandparents were musicians: His grandmother was a ragtime pianist in the South in the '30s, and his grandfather invented (and performed on) a collapsible drum set. (He never patented it, a lesson his grandson learned.) Shadd's father was himself a piano technician, restorer, builder and performer — as well as a trombonist. And Shadd's aunt was the NEA Jazz Master pianist and vocalist Shirley Horn. A child prodigy, young Warren made his own concert debut at age 4.

Shadd Pianos are now in churches and concert venues across the U.S. — including the set of American Idol, where house keyboardist Wayne Linsey will play it on Wednesday night's episode. On a recent visit to Warren Shadd's home in a suburb of Washington, D.C. — a home that doubles as the Shadd Piano showroom — he spoke about his life and work.

Willard Jenkins: What sparked your original interest in pianos?

Warren Shadd: My father was the exclusive piano technician for the Howard Theatre, so I would go down there with him four times a week and see James Brown, Count Basie, [Duke] Ellington, Pearl Bailey, Peggy Lee, Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers ... rehearsing. I'd see this all day long, every day. From the time I woke up, there were band rehearsals. Shirley Horn rehearsing in my basement with Billy Hart and Marshall Hawkins ... We had pianos everywhere in my house, from the garage to the basement, sometimes even one of the upright pianos sitting in the kitchen, [Laughs.] And musicians would come over to our house after the gig and play all night: Dude Brown, Bernard Sweetney, Steve Novosel, Roberta Flack ...

My father would have me do little repairs on the piano. When he went on these piano [repair] jobs, he would take me with him to see what the whole thing was about ... and I would never want to go. I just wanted to stay home and play the drums; just wanted to be Warren Shadd the drummer. Except when he said he was going to the Howard Theatre — I was in the car before he got there! I wanted to see all these cats rehearse, see the show ... I met Grady Tate when I was about 6 years old, playing with Jimmy Smith, then went full circle and played with Jimmy Smith myself.

As I progressed and learned more about piano technology, I never aspired to; I just knew how to do it. I would say, 'Piano is what I know, drums is who I am.' As I went out there and toured with different acts, did a bunch of Broadway shows and got a little tired of the road, I learned how to tune, rebuild and restore pianos. I would take these pianos down to the nuts and bolts and build them back up just for fun, just for a hobby. I would take whole grand or upright pianos apart, build them back up with everything refinished — new strings, new soundboard, new keys, new ivories — for fun. And then my father would sell the piano. [Laughs.] I was about 12, 13 when I started doing this.

The record player was always going, from Sonny Stitt's Low Flame album, to Count Basie, to Buddy Rich, to Miles, to Wilson Pickett, Otis Redding, the James Gang, Iron Butterfly — I had a real potpourri and understanding of all genres of music. While I was doing this piano thing just for the heck of it, I was also performing with a bunch of folks. After I got through high school, I went to Howard University and was in the big band with Wallace Roney, Geri Allen, Gary Thomas, Noble Jolley Sr., Carroll Dashiell and Paul Carr.

When my father passed in 1993, I took over the piano business full tilt, because he had all of these clients for tuning, rebuilding and restoring. He pretty much had Washington, D.C., totally sewn up with all the church pianos. So when I took it over, I already had a client base — it wasn't like I had to start over fresh. We had all these contracts with churches. Coming in as the second generation of this business was phenomenal for me. Secure from being a musician on tour, it was a built-in job.

As the industry changed a bit, I found that rebuilding pianos was not so much what I really wanted to do financially. I would take these pianos and beautifully restore them ... and somebody would say 'OK, I'll give you $600 for it...' [Laughs.] I'm like, 'Dude, even the new strings I put on this cost four times that much!' So I kind of migrated out of that restoration business into doing tunings and repair work.

I would also exchange parts. I'd take a soundboard out of a Steinway and put it in a Baldwin to see what kind of reaction it would give, understanding the engineering, understanding which side vibrates the most. I'd exchange strings, put on heavier strings, lighter strings, to achieve a certain type of sound. Being a musician, I have an advantage of understanding what musicians want and what they want to hear. If I can compare here — Mr. Steinway doesn't play piano, Yamaha no, Kawai no, Bosendorfer no, Fazioli a little bit ... They are engineers and businessmen; I'm a musician and an engineer and businessman. I have somewhat of a musical advantage. What I'm crafting is a musical instrument and all those different components that go into that, especially the musical parts.

 

[Maximus Rex]

The First Black Piano Manufacturer, con't

At what point did you decide to actually manufacture pianos?

From churches and especially symphonic tunings, you understood that the piano had a disadvantage in terms of the pianists especially being able to hear themselves play, because in church you're in total competition with the Hammond B-3 organ or the pipe organ, the drums, the bass, the percussion, the choir and the congregation. They would put microphones in the piano, but they weren't placed right to give you the most opulent sound of the piano. You would have to totally jack up that sound for the pianist to feel really comfortable. In the symphony, there'd be a floor monitor, but you're totally surrounded by all these string instruments and you're still at a disadvantage ... and you just play the part.

My first notion was enhancing the volume of the acoustic piano by itself, without any kind of electronics. Even if you add electronics, you'll have more sound, because the origin of the piano will have more sound, more volume to it without distorting it — which is important, too. There's a piano on the market that is somewhat loud, but as you play it louder, it has distortion. The soundboard is not made so well that it can take that kind of pounding. My pianos: You can stand on them and you will not get any kind of distortion.

I studied and researched in the library and wrote a dissertation. I went back to some of those old pianos I restored, and I would experiment with the soundboard. I wrote this stuff on sheets of notebook paper and just put it away, didn't really think that much about it. One day, I was tuning a piano at this old man Mr. Tucker's house. As I'm tuning his old upright piano, he started whimpering. I said 'Mr. Tucker, what's going on?' He said, 'It's all right, Shadd, it's all right.' So I go on tuning the piano, then he really starts crying a lot. 'What's wrong, Mr. Tucker?' He said, 'Shadd, see that piano? See that name on the front of it? That should say Shadd, because you're the only one!' I said, 'OK, Mr. Tucker, I've got these ideas, I'm gonna go back and study.' He pretty much planted the seed.

I went back and blew the dust off of these old ideas that had been sitting in a cabinet, and I started trying to engage some of these parts and put some of these old ideas I had together. And then I said, 'Why not try to do some of this stuff electronically?' So I built this prototype piano. It took me two summers and there it is [pointing to a high-tech grand piano in the adjoining room]. I put an audio system in the piano where speakers are right in front of the piano, so the sound would come right to the pianist and the pianist can hear themselves play. And I put speakers under the piano and a subwoofer so you can get the full gamut of the piano and control the volume and graphic equalize each section of the piano — bass, alto, tenor and treble — so you could go to each section of the piano and customize it just like that. I went another step and made it MIDI, so you could play all of your electronic synthesizer sounds on the piano.

 

[Maximus Rex]

The First Black Piano Manufacturer, fin.

For educational purposes, I made this piano interactive. I put a computer under the piano and I built this 24" touchscreen on the front and a 13" screen on the left and encompassed video cams throughout the piano. So on the other side, interactively, your piano teacher can see you, you can see your piano teacher, they can see our face, torso, left hand, right hand, pedal movement, and teach intelligently anywhere in the world ... distance learning right there at the piano.

From that point, you can also have your band on the other screen, so you can even cut tracks with your band live and in real time. You can teach and you can score on your touchscreen as you're watching that, so it's like a total workshop right in front of the piano. Now you can compete in a church environment, in a symphonic environment, because now you have the volume right in your face. But even taking it to another level ... I have a [piano] bench that has surround sound; it has a subwoofer in it. So now, you don't only just hear the music; you feel the music, so that every little nuance that you play on the piano down to the triple pianissimo ... you feel everything that you're playing.

From there, I said, 'Let me go back to the acoustic piano and see how I can apply some of that stuff to these new pianos.' So I incorporated a lot of the soundboard technology that I invented — and I have patents on all of this technology, unlike my grandfather with the collapsible drum set. I assembled an A team of piano manufacturers around the world and sort of cherry-picked the best of the best. I said I want you to make this ... in accordance to my patents and designs.

My first piano, I sold to the Setai Hotel in New York, now called the Langham Place Hotel, and they play jazz there on this piano — seven days a week. I was trying to get a particular piano company to build my pianos. When I called, they said, 'We'll build your pianos if you bring us 1,000 signatures of people who would buy your pianos.' A friend of mine suggested going to the Gospel Workshop of America, the big convention of all the ministers of music and trustees. It happens annually, and I'm thinking at that time all I had was paperwork: I had a provisional patent, but no prototype piano.

How am I going to go there without a piano?

Hammond Organ, Yamaha are going to be there, and they're going to have instruments. So I'm just going to be there selling a piano without a piano? I had these big posters made to put on easels and put all this stuff into an SUV and traveled up to Detroit. I bought a corner booth because people were going to be coming to you on both sides as opposed to being in the middle of a straight line in the exhibit hall. I had these banners made that said, 'First African-American piano manufacturer.' I made a video of all the proposed technology. But I still didn't have a piano. [Laughs.]

I've got a lot of family in Detroit, so I got a couple cousins with clipboards to stand outside of my booth to get these signatures — the name of their church, their minister of music's name, what kind of piano they had in their church, how many pianos would they replace if they were able, and how many would they replace with the Shadd Piano based on the technology you see [in his booth presentation]? I ended up with 864 signatures in four days. I got the rest of them from DC Public Schools.

I had six people across and three deep the whole time. I had no idea there was going to be this much interest. This little church lady with a pillbox hat points up to the poster and says, "You mean, we've got a piano!" When she said that, it was like the whole place stopped — it went silent to me, I did not hear a word. At that moment, I knew that this wasn't about me; this was much bigger than me. I'm thinking I'm a conduit, being the first African-American piano manufacturer, and some would say the first African-American musical instrument maker — we don't make trumpets, trombones, tubas...

What's been the reaction of the players to your piano?

It was kind of tough initially to get cats to come out here and play the piano. One cat — after he came out and played the piano and was overwhelmed — said 'You know, I've got to apologize. I didn't come out at first because I didn't want to be disappointed!

How are you going about connecting with piano players?

One player at a time. I call folks, they come over, they play the piano, and they're wowed. Barry Harris was here three weeks ago and he's brought some attention to some other folks about this piano. Church musicians are in here all the time now. I do know there's a responsibility with this, to make the best piano — not one of the best — the best piano, period, in the world, and that's what I believe I've done. As a people, we can't be parallel; we've got to be three times as good. I'm a perfectionist, so every nuance that goes into this piano has to be the very best.

 

[Maximus Rex]

FUTURE DOCTOR WHO WAS HOMESCHOOLED TRIPLE MAJORS AT MOREHOUSE
http://blackdoctor.org/466583/future-doctor-who-was-homeschooled-triple-majors-at-morehouse/
http://community.allhiphop.com/disc...ck-17yo-graduates-morehouse-with-triple-major

In the Unites States the statistics for black males who are of school age are not that good to say the least:

• Black males are twice as likely to be held back in elementary school as white males
  
• Black males are three times as likely to be suspended from school
  
• Only 50% of Black Males are likely to graduate from college.
  
• But Stephen R. Stafford II has a very different statistics.
  

Stafford, who is from Lithonia, Georgia, started his education playing school with his older sister when he was only two years old. Now 17, he is set to graduate college with a triple major and could complete medical school by the time he turns 22.

Stafford’s mother was not about to take that chance and home-schooled him. By the time he was 11, his mother found that he was too smart for her to teach, even though she was quite intelligent. She had him audit Algebra II at Morehouse College in Atlanta. The next year he aced pre-calculus and Morehouse College allowed him to officially enroll.

Though he will graduate this year with a triple major in pre-med, mathematics and computer science, he doesn’t see it as anything special. Even though he was named one of the “50 Smartest Teenagers” in the country.

“I look back and see all the stuff I’ve done. I know, yes, I’ve done a lot,” Stafford says. “But I can do a whole lot more. I want to live up to my potential. Potential doesn’t have a limit. It’s like a rainbow. You can constantly keep chasing it and you will never get to it. And I know I don’t have any limits as long as I keep trying.”

In 2010, he was quoted as saying, “I didn’t know what the big deal was about…I just knew it was the next step in my education–and I’m gonna do what my mother tells me to do.”

After graduation, Stafford will attend Morehouse’s School of Medicine and one day specialize in obstetrics and fertility. The classically trained pianist says, “I’m just like any other kid. I just learn very, very quickly.”

“I plan to go to the Morehouse School of Medicine, focus in obstetrics, specialize in infertility, and graduate when I’m 22. I want to help babies come into the world. I’d also like to develop my own computer operating system. At one point, I will live outside of the country for a few years. And when I come back, I am thinking about moving into the city. I just love the idea of the city, like downtown Atlanta. I went there for the first time the other week. We went to this building and it had a radio station. I was on two radio shows in the same building. And I just loved downtown.”

Stephen R. Stafford as a 13 yr. old Sophomore at Morehouse College. He was photographed at Morehouse.

8-Year Old Girl Becomes Youngest Person Ever to Receive a Scholarship to University of North Texas
http://www.blacknews.com/news/8-yea...olarship-university-north-texas/#.V__Q-tIrLIU
http://community.allhiphop.com/disc...ve-a-scholarship-to-university-of-north-texas

Garland, TX — The University of North Texas recently presented a $10,000 scholarship to an 8-year-old girl named Jordin Phipps after her adorable video went viral on social media. In the video, Jordin is seen wearing a University of North Texas t-shirt while she is reciting a motivational mantra that she learned at her local elementary school.

In her mantra, she says, “I will start my day in a positive way! I will be respectful with the words that I say. I will pay attention and I will do my best and I will study hard for every test!”

Phipps’ mother, Nichole Smith, shared the video clip on the university’s Facebook page, and it caught the attention of the school’s president, Neal Smatresk. Smatresk was so impressed that he decided to honor the 3rd-grader by giving her the President’s Award for Excellence in Leadership, and a $10,000 scholarship. He also guaranteed her admission to the college’s class of 2030, making her the youngest person in history to be accepted to the university.

Representatives from the university surprised Jordin during a recent assembly at her elementary school. After making the announcement, she was presented with a giant check, and cheerleaders from the college performed and took pictures with her.

Jordin says she doesn’t know yet, but she may want to major in engineering.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=shwpmCZjfEA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fh2kaJwkrJ8

Genius Black Family (Bush): 18 year-olds with Masters Degrees and Counting
http://community.allhiphop.com/discussion/549855/black-excellence-the-bush-family

 

[SimplyKrys]

Props to all these young AA's get accepted into college. B)

 

[Maximus Rex]

Gavin Long: Who is Baton Rouge: Cop Killer?
http://www.cnn.com/2016/07/18/us/who-is-gavin-long/

By Joshua Berlinger, CNN

Updated 6:56 AM ET, Thu August 4, 2016

(CNN)Gavin Long shot six cops, killing three of them, on his 29th birthday.

Investigators trying to figure out why a former Marine sergeant would eventually kill police in broad daylight will likely look to the writings and online footprint of Cosmo Setepenra, the name Long legally changed his name to.

Setepenra wrote books about "esoteric health and nutritional practices" and "how to develop your higher-self."

And in one video online he claims that victims of bullying need to resort to brute force: "100% have been successful through fighting back. Through bloodshed. Zero have been successful just over simply protesting. It has never worked, and it never will."

Here's what we know about Long's background and the views and opinions he espoused under the Setepenra pseudonym.

Long's time in Dallas

In a video posted on YouTube July 10, Long, who was African-American, speaks at the camera eloquently about recent protests and officer-involved shootings, often employing the motifs of blood and money and revolution.

He cites figures ranging from Nat Turner to Malcolm X and George Washington.

That video, he says, was recorded from Dallas, where five police officers were recently killed by a sniper targeting cops.

When police are shot, America is the target

Long mentions the July Fourth holiday as a celebration of an uprising against oppressive forces, and without mentioning Micah Xavier Johnson -- the Dallas shooter -- by name, he questions why some violent actions are perceived as criminal while others are celebrated.

A video posted two days earlier is a bit more cryptic, but makes more sense in the aftermath of his shooting rampage.

"I just wanted to let y'all know, don't affiliate me with nothing," he says. He says he wanted people to know that his actions were his alone.

He then goes on to list organizations that he says he has no affiliation with -- including the Nation of Islam, Floyd Mayweather's The Money Team (he's wearing their hat) and terror groups like ISIS.

"I thought my own stuff; I made my own decisions; I'm the one who gotta listen to the judgment," Long added.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4L5I13Nai_U

Those who knew him

Carl Woodley, Long's stepfather, said he was in "total shock" about the Baton Rouge shootings. He said he was sorry about what happened to the officers and about losing his stepson.

Woodley said Long was about 7 when they met and he remembered Long as a good, quiet and intelligent boy. "I never had ... problems with him," he added. "He wasn't my biological son, but he was a son to me. ... We were real close."

As an adult, Long, who was once overweight, often offered his stepfather nutritional advice. Woodley said he last spoke to Long in May, when his stepson gave him a book on nutrition, ordered vitamins for him online and Recommended a cleanse.

Long never talked to him about anger toward the police or the way they treated blacks, said Woodley, who added that he did not follow his stepson on social media. Woodley said he never saw Long with a weapon. Woodley was with Long when the young man enrolled in the U.S. Marines in 2005. When Long was discharged in 2010, the military veteran was "more like a loner, stayed to himself," Woodley said.

Long's stepsister, Brittany Woodley, on Facebook recalled fond memories of times when he babysat her. "He never was mean," she told CNN, adding that her recent contact with Long came on Facebook. "He was always kind, always humble. He was outspoken. Just a very good person." Cousin Kendall Fryer said via Facebook that Long "is nothing like he is portrayed to be" since the shootings, but declined further comment out of respect for the family. "Lord knows we wanna say something," Fryer said.

The Washitaw Nation

After he was killed, investigators found a card on Long's body suggesting he was a member of the Washitaw Nation, according to two law enforcement officials. The Southern Poverty Law Center describes the Washitaw Nation "as a sovereign tribe descended from pre-Columbian blacks who settled in North America." Long legally changed his name to Cosmo Ausar Setepenra in May 2015, claiming that he was "seeking to correct" his name, because he was part of the indigenous society, United Washitaw De Dugdahmoundvah Mu'er nation.

The group is one of many fringe groups to which the gunman may have belonged. Long followed several conspiracy groups devoted to government surveillance and monitoring. An email address linked to him showed that he was a member of a support group in an organization called Freedom from Covert Harassment and Surveillance.

Obama on Baton Rouge: We need to 'temper our words and open our hearts'The group's mission is to help those "marginalized and abused by ... remote brain experimentation, remote neural monitoring of an entire human's body."

On that site he's identified as a "Buddy" representing other "targets" of government surveillance.

The FBI is vetting the claim Long made on YouTube that he was a member of the Nation of Islam. An official said the belief is that Long identified as being associated with the black separatist movement in some capacity but there is no indication he was directed by it. The law enforcement official said the FBI has no indication any black separatist or other domestic terrorist groups are supporting or sending people to kill police officers.

Marine service

Long joined the Marines in 2005 and worked as a data network specialist, according to the U.S. military.

He was deployed to Iraq and spent time in California and Japan before being discharged at the rank of sergeant in 2010.He received a handful of awards, including the Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal.

The shooting

Two law enforcement sources told CNN that Long rented a car in Kansas City after the Dallas shootings and drove it to Baton Rouge. Since one of his YouTube videos was posted from Dallas on July 10, it's likely he made the trip to Baton Rouge from Dallas. He was not alone during his stay in Baton Rouge, a law enforcement source told CNN. But, it's unclear if his associates were actively involved in any plot.

The shooting began Sunday when police received a call of a "suspicious person walking down Airline Highway with an assault rifle," a source with knowledge of the investigation told CNN. When police arrived, they were ambushed. Long was wielding an AR-15 style semi-automatic rifle, law enforcement sources told CNN.

"There was no talking, just shooting," Baton Rouge police Cpl. L.J. McKneely said. Police officers who responded to Sunday's shootings killed Long in a minutes-long gunbattle. "He wasn't robbing a bank," an official told CNN. "He was armed to shoot it out with police."

Correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly described Long's comments about the Nation of Islam and Floyd Mayweather's The Money Team. Long said he had no affiliation with the groups. Mayweather's representative said he has no association with anyone who would advocate harm to law enforcement officers.

 

[Maximus Rex]

Jesse Russell should be on that list, he invented and patented 4g/mobile data

Jesse Eugene Russell
http://blackinhistory.tumblr.com/post/76170627429/jesse-eugene-russell#.V__dsdIrLIU

CONSIDERED THE “FATHER OF 2G COMMUNICATIONS”, HE PIONEERED AND IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE FIELD OF DIGITAL CELLULAR COMMUNICATION AND DIGITAL SIGNAL PROCESSING TECHNOLOGY. THIS MAN FUNDAMENTALLY AFFECTED THE WAY THE MODERN CELLPHONE WORKS AND HOW WE TALK TO EACH OTHER TODAY. HOW DID THIS MAN CHANGE OUR LIVES?

Born 1948, Nashville, Tennessee. Though coming from a large family and economically/socially challenged neighborhood, Russell overcame those odds to attend Tennessee State University where he earned a B.S. in electrical engineering in 1972. Interesting to note, Russell is the first African American to be hired directly from a “Historically Black University” by AT&T Bell Labs after earning his B.S. He would go on to earn a Master of Electrical Engineering from Stanford in 1973.

Continuing his work at Bell Labs, some of his greatest contributions involve his part in introducing the U.S. (and by extension, the world) to digital cellular technology. Until his involvement, AT&T’s Cellular Radio division was sort of bleeding money. The company had this technology, but the only practical consumer application at the time was for car phones. Russell suggested the idea of taking the phones out of the car and putting them on the people, thus creating truly mobile phones. Only problem was, there were more people than cars, and the specific spectrum these car phones were on wouldn’t be able to handle the bandwidth.

Fortunately for the team, Russell had already become the leading expert in digital signal processing. Russell came up with a few solutions to this technical problem; this included completely digitizing speech, which significantly reduced bandwidth by using certain modulation schemes and allowed 4 times the number of people on the same spectrum. The technology took approximately from 1984-1988 for Russell and Bell Labs to complete, and was the first digital cellular system in any place in the world. Hear it from the man himself:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzjy-2qWZug

Jesse Russell demo.flv

 

[2stepz_ahead]

FUTURE DOCTOR WHO WAS HOMESCHOOLED TRIPLE MAJORS AT MOREHOUSE
http://blackdoctor.org/466583/future-doctor-who-was-homeschooled-triple-majors-at-morehouse/
http://community.allhiphop.com/disc...ck-17yo-graduates-morehouse-with-triple-major

In the Unites States the statistics for black males who are of school age are not that good to say the least:

• Black males are twice as likely to be held back in elementary school as white males
  
• Black males are three times as likely to be suspended from school
  
• Only 50% of Black Males are likely to graduate from college.
  
• But Stephen R. Stafford II has a very different statistics.
  

Stafford, who is from Lithonia, Georgia, started his education playing school with his older sister when he was only two years old. Now 17, he is set to graduate college with a triple major and could complete medical school by the time he turns 22.

Stafford’s mother was not about to take that chance and home-schooled him. By the time he was 11, his mother found that he was too smart for her to teach, even though she was quite intelligent. She had him audit Algebra II at Morehouse College in Atlanta. The next year he aced pre-calculus and Morehouse College allowed him to officially enroll.

Though he will graduate this year with a triple major in pre-med, mathematics and computer science, he doesn’t see it as anything special. Even though he was named one of the “50 Smartest Teenagers” in the country.

“I look back and see all the stuff I’ve done. I know, yes, I’ve done a lot,” Stafford says. “But I can do a whole lot more. I want to live up to my potential. Potential doesn’t have a limit. It’s like a rainbow. You can constantly keep chasing it and you will never get to it. And I know I don’t have any limits as long as I keep trying.”

In 2010, he was quoted as saying, “I didn’t know what the big deal was about…I just knew it was the next step in my education–and I’m gonna do what my mother tells me to do.”

After graduation, Stafford will attend Morehouse’s School of Medicine and one day specialize in obstetrics and fertility. The classically trained pianist says, “I’m just like any other kid. I just learn very, very quickly.”

“I plan to go to the Morehouse School of Medicine, focus in obstetrics, specialize in infertility, and graduate when I’m 22. I want to help babies come into the world. I’d also like to develop my own computer operating system. At one point, I will live outside of the country for a few years. And when I come back, I am thinking about moving into the city. I just love the idea of the city, like downtown Atlanta. I went there for the first time the other week. We went to this building and it had a radio station. I was on two radio shows in the same building. And I just loved downtown.”

Stephen R. Stafford as a 13 yr. old Sophomore at Morehouse College. He was photographed at Morehouse.

8-Year Old Girl Becomes Youngest Person Ever to Receive a Scholarship to University of North Texas
http://www.blacknews.com/news/8-yea...olarship-university-north-texas/#.V__Q-tIrLIU
http://community.allhiphop.com/disc...ve-a-scholarship-to-university-of-north-texas

Garland, TX — The University of North Texas recently presented a $10,000 scholarship to an 8-year-old girl named Jordin Phipps after her adorable video went viral on social media. In the video, Jordin is seen wearing a University of North Texas t-shirt while she is reciting a motivational mantra that she learned at her local elementary school.

In her mantra, she says, “I will start my day in a positive way! I will be respectful with the words that I say. I will pay attention and I will do my best and I will study hard for every test!”

Phipps’ mother, Nichole Smith, shared the video clip on the university’s Facebook page, and it caught the attention of the school’s president, Neal Smatresk. Smatresk was so impressed that he decided to honor the 3rd-grader by giving her the President’s Award for Excellence in Leadership, and a $10,000 scholarship. He also guaranteed her admission to the college’s class of 2030, making her the youngest person in history to be accepted to the university.

Representatives from the university surprised Jordin during a recent assembly at her elementary school. After making the announcement, she was presented with a giant check, and cheerleaders from the college performed and took pictures with her.

Jordin says she doesn’t know yet, but she may want to major in engineering.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=shwpmCZjfEA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fh2kaJwkrJ8

Genius Black Family (Bush): 18 year-olds with Masters Degrees and Counting
http://community.allhiphop.com/discussion/549855/black-excellence-the-bush-family

I want both these kids to be protected...

I want to keep all fuckery away from them.

 

[Maximus Rex]

9 Black Child Prodigies Reveal How They Unlocked Their Genius Potential


http://atlantablackstar.com/2013/10...veal-how-they-unlock-thier-genius-potiential/

By ABS Staff - October 3, 2013

Mabou Loiseau

By age 7, Mabou Loiseau, who is from a Haitian family, spoke eight different languages – English, French, Creole, Spanish, Mandarin, Arabic, Japanese and Russian. By then she had also learned to play the harp, clarinet, violin, drums, guitar and piano.

Her mother, Esther Loiseau, says Mabou has 13 to 15 teachers. When Mabou was only a year and a half, Loiseau hired teachers to speak several different languages to her. Loiseau says Mabou studies six days a week and has Sundays off. But she says her daughter still likes to work on Sunday.

“I read somewhere that before the age of 5, a kid can learn up to 10 languages with no problem. So I said let me start right away,” Loiseau said.

Tony Hansberry Jr.

At 14 years old, Tony Hansberry Jr. developed a new suture method for hysterectomy patients. As a result of the work of the young genius, the time it takes doctors to perform hysterectomies and the potential risk of complications has been reduced.

At age 12, Hansberry’s parents exposed him to the field of medicine by sending him to the Darnell-Cookman School of the Medical Arts in Jacksonville, Fla.

His invention came about when they sent him to an internship at the University of Florida’s Center for Simulation Education the next summer, where he was able to participate in hands-on simulated medical work.

Imafidon Family

The Imafidons, a Nigerian family, is known as the smartest in the U.K. The youngest children, Peter and Paula, made history when they were the youngest ever to enroll at secondary school. Their older sister, Anne-Marie, passed A-level computing at age of 13, the youngest student to ever accomplish that feat.

Their father, Chris Imafidon, attributes their success to enabling them to be in a “great learning environment” at home. He said parents have to make learning a competition for children at home and bring education into their daily lives.

Chris said he started teaching his kids before they were a year old. He also sent his children to an education support group. “Don’t have a predefined opinion of what a 9-year-old, a 7-year-old, or a 6-year-old can do,” he said, “that’s the key.”

Saheela Ibraheem

At 15, the brilliant Saheela Ibraheem, who achieved a near-perfect S.A.T. score, caused a media frenzy when she was accepted into 13 Ivy League schools. The teen, who speaks English, Arabic, Spanish and Latin, eventually chose Harvard University, where she is currently studying neuroscience or neurobiology — scientific study of the nervous system.

Her mother, Shakirat Ibraheem, said she always stressed education and began working with her daughter when she was a year old. She said she urges all parents to do so.

“Kids should try to listen to their parents most of the time, ” Saheela said. “They know what they’re doing. It all comes down to the support I’ve had at home, from my parents.”

Kelvin Doe

Kelvin Doe, 15, is an engineering whiz from Sierra Leone who scours trash bins for spare parts, which he uses to build batteries, generators and transmitters. Completely self-taught, Kelvin has created his own radio station and broadcasts news and plays music under the alias, DJ Focus.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology doctorate student David Sengeh noticed Doe’s obvious potential and decided get him to one of the most prestigious math and science schools in the world. There, Doe’s true genius was further unlocked as he had access to resources most children in America take for granted.

Doe eventually became the youngest person in history to be invited to the “Visiting Practitioner’s Program” at MIT.

Zora Ball

Zora Ball, a 7-year-old prodigy, is the youngest person to create a mobile video game.

The brilliant youngster from Philadelphia attends Harambee Institute of Science and Technology Charter School, where she had been introduced to computer science at a very young age.

Her father, Curtis Ball, who has high expectations for Zora, also sent her to the after-school science program at Harambee. He says she is gifted like many other children, but he set a goal to keep her focused on school work.

“We try to keep her geared towards education, whether it’s reading or computers,” Ball said.

Miatta McCrummady

Pioneer High School senior Miatta McCrummady broke down destructive stereotypes that she and many experts say limit young people’s academic performances.

To unlock her full potential, McCrummady took more challenging classes in school and put more time into her studying.

“I feel that just because there’s a stereotype attached to my ethnicity doesn’t mean that I have to fit the description,” McCrummady said. “All I do is take courses that I feel will prepare me for college and make the best grades I can. At times it can be hard to battle the stereotypes out there, but I put it to the side and do what I have to do.”

Joshua Colas

On Dec. 16, 2010, Joshua Colas of White Plains, N.Y., earned the title of chess master, making him the youngest black chess master in history.

Colas was able to unlock his potential with a simple formula: setting goals, patience, dedication and hard work.

Since becoming a master, Joshua has won the prestigious 2013 New York City High School Chess Championship and the 2013 New York State High School Chess Championship. He accomplished both feats while he is still just a high school freshman.

 

[Maximus Rex]

First Ever Black-Owned Bank -- The Founder Was Once A Slave!
http://blog.blackbusiness.org/2016/...d-bank-founder-once-a-slave.html#.WAEwjNIrLIU

Rev. William Washington Browne, founder of first black-owned bank

The history of The Savings Bank of the Grand Fountain United Order of True Reformers tells a fascinating story about the struggles and triumphs of a former Georgia slave who founded the first ever black-owned bank in America. Founded in 1888 by Reverend William Washington Browne, the bank opened the very next year with deposits on the first day totaling $1,269.28.

From Slave to Bank Owner

Reverend William Washington Browne established the bank to serve the financial interests of black depositors. He wanted a bank that would serve to protect the finances of black clients to ensure their finances could not be monitored by whites.

The name of the bank came from the Grand Fountain United Order of True Reformers, a black fraternal organization established by Browne in 1849. Racial tension remained high after the Civil War, so Browne established the first black-owned bank in Richmond, Virginia, which initially operated out of his home. Two years later, the bank moved to its location several blocks away at 604-608 North Second Street.

Thrived Despite the Economic Depression

The bank did very well. When the U.S. economic depression of 1893 hit and people were panicking and rushing to the banks to withdraw their money, Browne's bank was one of the few that survived. In fact, it was the only bank in Richmond that was able to pay out the full value of it's customers' accounts and remain in full operation.

After Browne's death in 1897, the bank continued in operation. It also expanded into other areas, such as newspaper, real estate, a retirement home and a building and loan association. It's growth included operations in 24 states.

The Downfall

However, under the new president, Reverend William Lee Taylor, the bank was mismanaged, often making unsecured loans which defaulted. The straw that broke the camel's back was a bank embezzlement of $50,000 by the bank's cashier. By 1910, the State Corporation Commission ordered the bank closed. But, it remains in history as the first bank owned by African Americans in the United States.

Black-Owned Spa/Salon For Men Raises $200K After Being Turned Down on "Shark Tank"
http://blog.blackbusiness.org/2016/...a-salon-for-men-raises-200k.html#.WAEydNIrLIU

Wednesday, September 28, 2016

Michael Elliot, founder of Hammer & Nails salon

Many people know Michael Elliot as the Hollywood screenwriter behind films like Brown Sugar, Like Mike and Just Wright. But he is also a successful entrepreneur who, you might say, owes his success to Shark Tank for turning him down on a deal. That's right, they turned him down and actually told him his idea of nail salons for men would never work.

Success on His Own

Elliot opened his first salon, called Hammer & Nails, in 2013 on Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles. Within his first seven months in business, he made $150,000 in sales, and he projected he would make $2 million in sales in 2016. This is when he made the decision to franchise his business so it could grow even more. He presented his idea on ABC's Shark Tank in 2014, but they turned him down, telling him it wouldn't fly.

It Flew

The irony of this story is that as a result of the exposure on Shark Tank, 8 viewers who saw Elliot helped him raise $200,000. Two of these viewers were African American women who were angel investors. In addition, since January, Elliot has sold 183 franchise licenses in eight states. This year, two locations will open in San Francisco, one will open in Santa Fe, one in Plano, TX will open early next year, and still another will open next summer in Greenville, SC.

Hammer & Nails offers men pedicures, manicures, barbering, and straight-razor shaves in an atmosphere that looks like a man cave, not a salon. It's designed to make men feel comfortable and, well, manly -- right down to a shot of whiskey!

Eat your hearts out Shark Tank!

For more details about Hammer & Nails, visit www.hammerandnails-salon.com

 

[Maximus Rex]

The 25 Most Influential African-Americans In Technology, 25 - 21
http://www.businessinsider.com/most-influential-blacks-in-technology-2013-4#25-will-lucas-1

25. Will Lucas, Founder and CEO, Creadio

Will Lucas founded brand marketing technology company Creadio back in 2003. He recently launched Classana, an educational resource discovery engine. Lucas is also the organizer behind TedXToledo, which is now in its second year.

Stacy Spikes co-founded MoviePass

Stacy Spikes' MoviePass is one of the most exciting things to happen to the movie business in a while. It's essentially Netflix for movies still playing in theaters.

Before co-founding MoviePass, Spikes was a long-time marketing executive who recently delved into the tech world. He's considered one of the leaders of film entertainment marketing. Before starting MoviePass, Spikes founded the Urbanworld Film Festival, which is now the largest of its kind in the world. Urbanworld has premiered more #1 films than any other North American Film Festival, including Sundance and Tribeca.

23. Hamett Watts, Co-founder, MoviePass

Hamet Watt is a former entrepreneur in residence at True Ventures. Before co-founding MoviePass alongside Stacy Spikes, he founded full-service media buying platform NextMedium, and health app bLife.

22. Don Charlton, CEO, The Resumator

Don Charlton has changed the way hiring gets done online. During the most recent presidential election, both President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney used The Resumator to handle all of the job applications coming in. Before founding The Resumator, Charlton established himself as an award-winning interactive designer.

21. Majora CarterFounder, Sustainable South Bronx, Startup Box: South Bronx

Majora Carter recently opened up a new startup incubator and tech education center in South Bronx to foster entrepreneurship. "There is a dramatic shortage of engineering talent in the U.S. labor force, and we want to fill that gap with people who could otherwise end up in the criminal justice and welfare systems," she recently told Fast Company. She says most of the talent in the South Bronx either leaves or doesn't get "nurtured into something positive." In 2010, Carter was touted as one of the 100 most creative people in business. She's also a Peabody Award-winning broadcaster.

 

[Maximus Rex]

The 25 Most Influential African Americans in Technology, 20 - 16

20. Wayne Sutton, Founder and CEO, PitchTo

Wayne Sutton founded PitchTo to help investors make smarter decisions and entrepreneurs perfect their pitches. Before founding PitchTo, Sutton was a partner at the NewMe accelerator where he advised startups in product development and customer acquisition strategies, among other things. Sutton has more than 10 years worth of experience in Internet technology, and has advised numerous startups, including Tioki, Gokit, and StockofU.

19. Kimberly Bryant, Founder, BlackGirlsCode

Kimberly Bryant wants to ensure that young black girls have the opportunity to learn how to code. In 2011, Bryant founded BlackGirlsCode, a six-week program that teaches basic programming concepts, and gives underrepresented youths the chance to learn about robotics, and a wide range of other technological concepts.

Before founding BlackGirlsCode, Bryant spent about decade in biotechnology where she held several management roles at companies including Genentech, Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics, and Merck.

18. Jon Gosier, Founder and CEO, MetaLayer

Serial entrepreneur Jon Gosier is the mastermind behind data analysis startup MetaLayer, global innovation consultancy Appfrica, and non-profit organizations HiveColab and Abayima. Gosier is a senior fellow at TED who has given talks on topics including the democratization of data platforms and social currency.

17. Tony Gauda,CEO and co-founder, Bitcasa

Tony Guada's Bitcasa entered the online storage market with a major point of differentiation: infinite storage for its users. Gauda launched Bitcasa at the TechCrunch Disrupt conference back in 2011. Gauda and his co-founder have been able to attract $7 million funding from some of the most well-respected venture capital firms in the business, including Horizon Ventures, Andreessen-Horowitz, and First Round Capital. Gauda previously engineered fraud protection systems at Mastercard.

16. Angela Benton, Founder, CEO at NewMe Accelerator

NewMe is an accelerator geared toward minorities. It was featured in CNN's Black in America: The New Promised Land: Silicon Valley in 2011. Benton launched NewMe alongside co-founder Wayne Sutton. Prior to NewMe, Benton launched BlackWeb20.com, an online publication for African-Americans interested in technology and new media.

 

[Maximus Rex]

The 25 Most Influential African Americans in Technology 15 - 11

15. Brian Watson, Analyst, Union Square Ventures

Before joining USV in 2012, Watson worked at Organizing for America, Trendrr, JPMorgan Chase & Co., and Gilt Groupe. Now he works alongside prominent tech executives like Brad Burnham, Fred Wilson, and Albert Wenger.

14. Michael Seibel, Justin.Tv, SocialCam

Michael Seibel has two successful startups under his belt: live video streaming service Justin.tv and social video app SocialCam. In 2012, Seibel and his startup SocialCam got acquired for $60 million by 3D design software company Autodesk just 18 months after launching. Seibel's success has recently earned him a spot as a part-time partner at Silicon Valley's most prestigious accelerator, Y Combinator.

13. Charles Hudson, Partner at SoftTech VC

In addition to investing in early-stage companies with SoftTech VC, Hudson is also an entrepreneur. He is the co-founder and CEO of Bionic Panda Games. Hudson has also been involved with the event company Social Gaming Summit, which Mediabistro eventually acquired. He's also been involved with social game developer Serious Business, a company that Zynga later acquired.

12. Kanyi Maqubela, Partner, Collaborative Fund

Kanyi Maqubela has worked in consumer technology since 2006. But he's quickly climbed up the ladder from a serving as a field director at solar leasing and sales company One Block Off the Grid to a venture partner at Collaborative Fund. Maqubela joined Collaborative Fund as entrepreneur in residence in 2011, and became a full-time partner in December 2012.

11. Tristan Walker, EIR, Andreessen Horowitz

Tristan Walker was an early Foursquare member. Now he's headed to the venture side. Before joining Andreessen Horowitz, Walker worked at Foursquare as director of business development for about two and a half years. Walker was one of Foursquare's earliest employees, joining the company only after sending several emails to Foursquare founders Dennis Crowley and Naveen Selvadurai. While at Foursquare, Walker helped form partnerships with Bravo, MTV, CNN, The New York Times, NBA, and Starbucks.

 

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The Most Influential African Americans in Technology 10 - 1

10. Erik Moore, Founder and Managing Partner, Base Ventures

Moore has invested in nearly two dozen startups, including TracksBy, Ecomom, and Socialcam. He was also among the first investors to finance Zappos, a shoes and apparel company that sold to Amazon for $1.2 billion.

Moore spent 15 years in investment banking at Merrill Lynch before pursuing his entrepreneurship. In 2010, he co-founded FlickrLaunch, a digital streaming platform on Facebook for feature-length movies. Today, Moore continues to support and invest in startups through his firm Base Ventures.

9. Ty Ahmad-Taylor, Head of Smart TV Services, Samsung

Ty Ahmad-Taylor has a vast background in media and technology. In 2008, Ahmad-Taylor founded real-time sports aggregator service FanFeedr. In 2012, Samsung acquired FanFeedr and Ahmad-Taylor came on board with Samsung. Before starting FanFeedr, Ahmad-Taylor was the senior vice president for strategy and product development at MTV Networks' Music & Logo Group. Prior to MTV, Ahmad-Taylor a held executive roles at Comcast.

8. Ime Archibong, Manager of Strategic Partnerships, Facebook

Ime Archibong is the guy in charge of Facebook's music and video strategy. Archibong manages Facebook's relationships with companies like Spotify, Hulu, and Netflix. Archibong joined Facebook back in 2010. Before that, Archibong worked at IBM in its business development department, where he handled the licensing of IBM's technology.

7. Malik Ducard, Director of content partnerships, YouTube

Ducard is responsible for developing partnerships between YouTube and film, TV, and new media companies. Under Ducard's leadership, YouTube launched YouTube Live, started offering movie rentals from Paramount Pictures, and partnered with ABC News, Al Jazeera English, BuzzFeed, and other news organizations for presidential election coverage back in 2012. Before joining Google in 2010, Ducard served as the senior vice president of digital distribution at Paramount.

6. Lisa Lambert, VP and Managing Director of Software and Services, Intel Capital

Lambert joined Intel Capital back in 1999. Before that, Lambert held an executive role at Intel's Desktop Products Group, where she was responsible for the Pentium II and III processing systems. She's invested in and helped exit companies including VMWare, Financial Engines, OpenFeint, and MySQL.

5. Kirk McDonald, President, PubMatic

McDonald joined digital media platform PubMatic in October 2011, bringing with him more than two decades of experience at media companies like Time and CNET. Last year, AllThingsD's Kara Swisher reported that Yahoo was looking to buy ad tech companies, including Pubmatic.

4. Ken Coleman, Chairman, MIPS Technologies, Inc

Kenneth Coleman is a long-time tech veteran, having held numerous executive positions at technical computing company SGI, video game company Activision, and Hewlett Packard.

Today, Coleman serves on the board of two public tech firms: MIPS Technologies and scientific enterprise software company Accelrys. Coleman also previously founded enterprise software company ITM.

3. David Drummond, Senior Vice President — Corporate Development and Chief Legal Officer, Google

David Drummond has been involved with Google since the search giant's early days. While working as a partner at law firm Wilson & Sonsini Goodrich and Rosati, he served as Google's first outside counsel. Drummond was right there alongside Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin when the company was raising its first fundraising rounds, and also helped them incorporate the company.

Today, Drummond continues to lead Google's teams for legal, government relations, and corporate development. He's played a huge role in defending Google against antitrust regulators in Europe.

2. Shellye Archambeau, CEO, MetricStream

Shellye Archambeau came on board with enterprise software provider MetricStream in 2002 as its chief executive officer. Archambeau also holds a board position at media and marketing firm Arbitron.

In her career, Archambeau has held several executive roles at companies including Arbitron, Loudcloud, NorthPoint Communications, and Inc. In 2000, Internet World named her one of the top 25 "Click and Mortar" executives in the country.

1. John Thompson, CEO, Virtual Instruments

During Thompson's senior year at Florida A&M University, he joined IBM as a sales representative. He ended up staying for 28 years, and eventually rose to become general manager of IBM Americas.

In 1999, Thompson got an offer from Symantec that he couldn't turn down: the chance to be president and chief executive officer of the cloud security giant. He eventually retired in 2009, but started investing in early-stage startups.

Cloud computing startup Virtual Instruments was one of them. In 2009, Thompson joined Virtual Instruments' board of directors, and stepped in as CEO in 2010. He only intended to stay for a few months, but investors would only finance the company if Thompson stayed on board as CEO.

 

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Top 10 African-American Owned Businesses
http://www.investopedia.com/articles/markets/121615/top-10-africanamerican-owned-businesses.asp

By Poonkulali Thangavelu | December 16, 2015 — 6:30 PM EST

There are about 8 million minority-owned businesses in the United States, according to a 2012 survey by the Census Bureau. Of these, about 2.5 million are owned by African-Americans. African-American-owned firms account for about 10 percent of the approximately 27 million in total of U.S businesses. These black-owned firms raked in more than $185 billion in gross receipts and had more than a million people on their payrolls, the Census Bureau reports. This compares to total gross receipts of $1.6 trillion for all minority-owned firms, and $33.5 trillion for all U.S. firms.

Here’s a look the top revenue of these black-owned businesses for 2014, by revenue, based on a ranking by Black Enterprise magazine. Several of these firms are suppliers to the automotive industry, while there are also a few enterprises in the food services industry. (See also: Auto Parts Suppliers Benefit From Growing DIY Trend.)

1. World Wide Technology, Inc., a Maryland Heights, Mo-based IT products and services firm, was started in 1990 by David Steward, who remains chairman of the board. This firm enables its customers to implement technology. With more than $6 billion in revenue at the end of 2013, the firm employs about 3,000 people.

2. ACT-1 Group, Inc. a business founded by Janice Bryant Howroyd in 1978, is a global firm that helps other businesses manage their workforce and employment needs. Based in Torrance, Calif., the firm started off as an employment agency. As of 2013, the firm employed more than 2,000 people and its revenues were about $2.2 billion.

3. Bridgewater Interiors, LLC a Detroit-based firm, is in the business of supplying automotive parts. Founded in 1998 and led by CEO Ronald Hall, Sr., the firm is a joint venture between Epsilon Technologies and Johnson Controls, Inc. With an employee base of about 1,500, the firm generated $1.5 billion in revenue at yearend.

4. Modular Assembly Innovations LLC is another firm in the automotive parts manufacturing business, Modular Assembly Innovations is based in Dublin, Ohio, with CEO Billy Vickers at the helm. The firm employs about 250 people and enjoyed revenues of about $1.2 billion at the end of 2013.

5. Manna Inc., a Louisville, Ky.-based company makes its money as a fast food franchise business. Led by CEO Ulysses Bridgeman, Jr., this firm is now the second-largest Wendy’s franchise owner in the United States, according to Louisville Business News. Employing about 14,000 people, the firm enjoyed revenues of about $630 million in 2017.

6. The Anderson-Dubose Company is another black-owned firm whose success is based in the food industry. This Lordstown, Ohio-based firm is engaged in the business of providing food and paper supplies to McDonald’s and Chipotle restaurants. Under CEO Warren E. Anderson, the firm employed about 400 people and generated about $545 million in revenue in 2014.

7. Detroit-based Global Automotive Alliance, LLC an automotive parts supplier, started off in 1999 as an alliance of participating companies that did business with automobile manufacturers. Under CEO William F. Pickard, the company employed about 1400 people and made about $520 million in revenue as of 2013.

8. Reston, Va.-based Thompson Hospitality is in the food services and restaurant business, providing contracted food services to corporations and also running its own restaurants. CEO Warren Thompson started off in 1992 by buying up 31 restaurants. As of 2013, the firm employed more than 4,000 people and had about $485 million in revenues.

9. While Radio One, Inc. (ROIAK) is a publicly traded company with a market capitalization of about $90 million, listed on the NASDAQ exchange, Black Enterprise reports that the majority of the company’s voting stock is held by African-Americans. This Silver Spring, Md.-based company is primarily in the radio broadcasting business, with African-Americans as its core target audience.The firm, whose CEO is Alfred Liggins, III, employs more than 1,000 people. In 2013, the firm’s revenues were about $450 million.

10. Based in Warren, Mich., SET Enterprises, Inc., provides metal processing services. Its customer base is primarily in the automotive industry. Under the leadership of CEO Sid E. Taylor, the firm employed around 400 people and generated about $400 million in revenue as of 2013.

Another black-owned business to watch, even though it is not big enough right now to make the Black Enterprise list, is Patti LaBelle’s food empire. LaBelle’s sweet potato pies have been selling very fast this Thanksgiving season, generating about $1 million in sales at Walmart stores just over one November weekend. Also of note, Harpo Productions Inc. is a multimedia empire founded by renowned entrepreneur and celebrated media celebrity Oprah Winfrey.

The Bottom Line

Black-owned businesses account for about 10 percent of U.S. businesses, and about 30 percent of all minority-owned businesses. Looking at the top 10 black-owned businesses by revenue, a number of these firms find their success in the automotive supplies niche and the food industry. Most of these firms were established in the last few decades, and many are still led by their entrepreneurial founders. Annual revenue of these top 10 firms ranges from a high of $6 billion to a low of around $400 million. Most of these companies are based in the Midwest, South, or Washington, DC metropolitan area, with an exception being ACT-1 Group, Inc based in Torrance, California and founded by notable female entrepreneur Janice Bryant Howroyd. Other remarkable black female entrepreneurs include Patti LaBelle and of course Oprah Winfrey, one of the most powerful and successful media entrepreneurs in American history.

 

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_Gualberto_G%C3%B3mez

Juan Gualberto Gómez Ferrer (July 12, 1854 – March 5, 1933) was an Afro-Cuban revolutionary leader in the Cuban War of Independence against Spain. He was a "close collaborator of [José] Martí's," and alongside him helped plan the uprising and unite the island's black population behind the rebellion. He was an activist for independence and a journalist who worked on and later founded several pivotal anti-royalist and pro-racial equality newspapers. He authored numerous works on liberty and racial justice in Latin America as well.

In his later years, he was a "journalist-politician." He defended the revolution against racism and U.S. imperialism and upheld Martí's legacy in print (often under the pseudonym "G") as he served the Cuban state; he was a part of the Committee of Consultations that drafted and amended the Constitution of 1901, and was a representative and senator in the Cuban legislature. He is best remembered as "the most conspicuous" Afro-Cuban activist leader of the 1890s independence struggle and "one of the revolution's great ideologues."

Gómez was born on the hacienda "Golden Fleece," a sugar plantation owned by Catalina Gómez. His parents, Fermin Gómez (Yeye) and Serafina Ferrer (Fina) were African slaves but managed to buy the freedom of their child, Juan, before birth, in accordance to the law of the time. His status as a free man allowed him to learn to read and write. Because of his literacy skills, rare for Afro-Cubans growing up on plantations in this era of chattel slavery, his parents sent him to school at Our Lady of the Forsaken in Havana, despite the financial sacrifice it meant.

Throughout the Ten Years' War, and after, "Spain sought, with considerable success, to divide Cubans along racial lines by portraying itself as the defender of white 'civilization'" against blacks who would plunge Cuba into a Haiti-type slave revolt and "Africanize" the island if not suppressed. Colonial authorities fanned the flames of racial fear so widely that the United States, under President Franklin Pierce, threatened to intervene (See also: Ostend Manifesto). Juan Gualberto knew that one of the most important issues that Cubans had to resolve in order to unite and earn their independence from Spain was the problem of racism on the island. It was not enough to have abolished slavery, pro-independence groups also must abolish prejudice and conspicuous public discrimination if they wanted to unite Afro-Cubans behind the cause of independence.

Through The Brotherhood he presented examples and pleas against the abuses and discrimination suffered by blacks and mulattos. In one 1888 article, it reminded its readers that "yesterday we were slaves, today we are free, we want to participate in life, claim our rights, we want consideration and respect." Juan Gualberto more followers across the island; as he was recognized as Cuba's first true spokesman and defender of black people.

Juan Gualberto was also a prominent advocate for black veterans of the War of Independence, and fought for them to get public benefits and recognition. Through the advocacy of groups like the "Committee of Veterans and Association of the Colored Race," black veterans of the Cuban Liberation Army, decorated war heroes and inconspicuous rank and file troops alike, invoked their status as freedom fighters and citizen-soldiers in demanding voting rights, anti-discrimination measures, and civil service jobs in the new government.

"Gómez had become the most notable Afro-Cuban leader in the island by the 1890s, when he presided over the Directorio Central de Sociedades de la Raza de Color (Central Directorate of Societies of the Colored Race) and began publishing the newspaper La Igualidad." The Central Directorate, which brought together roughly 100 black organizations, waged a successful civil rights campaign, gaining Spanish colonial edicts "outlawing restrictions on interracial marriage" as well as ending government segregation of schools and other public facilities. The Central Directorate's pivotal role in the fight for racial equality is "widely acknowledged," and it also gained Afro-Cuban activists important organizational and political experience, tools that facilitated black political involvement and influence for a generation.

Even after Cuban independence was secured, however, anti-discrimination progress was more symbolic than real, and pressure grew to start an independent political party for Afro-Cubans. Juan Gualberto was always opposed to the formation of a black party, a position he held throughout his political life, despite this stance becoming increasingly controversial. On this issue he was severely criticized and lost popularity among fellow Afro-Cubans, especially in the years following independence. After the first years of the republic passed with nothing done to promote integration or end discrimination, and the August elections of 1908 closed and not one "black candidate from the two traditional political parties was elected to office," political discontent among blacks and mulattos peaked. "Following years of agitation and political upsets, it was clear that black Cubans could not depend on the existing party apparatus. As a result, prominent Afro-Cubans banded together to form the first black political party in Cuba, the Partido Independiente de Color (PIC)," or Independent Colored Party, without Gómez.

"Juan Gualberto Gómez and Martín Morúa Delgado, the two most prominent black Cuban congressmen at the time, opposed the movement from the beginning and used Cuba’s supposed history of racial harmony as a justification to put down the Independientes." Most established Cuban politicians of Juan Gualberto's era, both black and white, opposed the development of the PIC, anxious that it would "erode some of their power and popular base" and upset the balance they had spent years building.