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In 2018, Rotimi Kukoyi — a high school freshman at the time — was one of the gifted students selected to appear on the “Jeopardy!” Teen Tournament. Now, the star senior has gone on to excel even further after getting accepted into some of the top schools in the nation, according to ABC News.
Youth being backed by a motivating support system can often lead them to achievements that they initially didn’t perceive as being possible. When weighing out his options of which schools to apply to, any of the nation’s eight prestigious schools weren’t initially on Birmingham native Kylan Benson’s list of choices. But, with the help of a nonprofit and his family, the Ramsay High School senior’s future is bright. WVTM 13 reports that Benson was offered $3 million in scholarships and accepted into 18 out of the 19 schools he applied to, including four Ivy League schools.
Imagine a café where you can get your daily cup of coffee and a history lesson at the same time. Catrice and Jakyra Hixon’s coffee shop — Melanin Café — does just that. The couple recently opened their café in Opelika, Alabama with the hopes to serve quality coffee while celebrating melanin and fostering a peaceful environment, The Associated Press reports . The café is even more of a family affair with Hixon’s sister, Crystal Slaughter, as part of the team as the café’s baker. Black history is cleverly taught through the café’s menu in that “every drink has a name associated with lesser-known Black contributors and landmarks.” “We learned about Black history in school, but we only got civil rights, Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks,” Hixon said. “I wanted to bring forward people we don’t really know about, people like inventors, scientists and doctors.” Their menu also puts a focus on the local Opelika history, such as a drink named after Dr. John W. Darden — Opelika’s first Black...
This HBCU graduate went from intern to owner! According to Black Business , April Ross is an Alabama State University graduate and the new owner of WJCN TV-33, a local television station based in LaGrange, Georgia. While attending the Historically Black College and University (HBCU), Ross worked as an intern at WJCN before ultimately taking a position as a production assistant and later a reporter. Ross would later go on to work as a reporter for a CBS affiliate, WRBL News-3, where she says one incident led her to the vision of owning her own t elevision station. In 2017, Ross encountered a situation where a deputy sheriff had been shot and quickly realized that there were no reporters around to cover the story. “My news reporter instincts took over and in the absence of any TV news outlets here to report on it, I covered it on Facebook Live, which helped my social media presence to grow in excess of 15,000 followers,” said Ross in an interview with ASU News. “This was the catalyst...
Because Black mental health matters too! According to NBC15, Joanna Johnson and Afiya Hooker are the boss ladies behind Mobile, Alabama’s first Black, women-owned, community health center. After offering counseling services at their own practices, the ladies wanted to take it a step further to offer more help through the Yin Yang Wellness Center. “Mental health in the black community is very stigmatized,” said Hooker, a licensed professional counselor and co-owner of the center. “I am very proud that at my own private practice. I have 97 percent BPOC clients but we still have a lot of work to do.” While the center is open to men and women of all ages and backgrounds, one of the main goals for opening the center was to provide a safe space for Black people and to destigmatize the narrative around the Black community and mental health. Not only does the Yin Yang Wellness Center offer therapy , but they also offer case management, group counseling and even serves as a donation center...
Now more than ever we continue to see change sweep our country! According to Because of Them We Can , a predominantly Black city in Alabama just elected its first majority Black city council in the city’s 131-year history. Prior to last week, residents in Pleasant Grove, Alabama had never had a Black person elected to fill a council seat since the town was founded over 130 years ago. Today, three of the five city council seats are slated to be held by Black council members. This major win is a result of a lawsuit filed by voting rights attorney Jim Blacksher and NAACP Legal Defense Fund on behalf of two local voters against the city who worked to changed the town’s at-large voting method in elections. “[The lawsuit] was definitely a catalyst to get us to where we’re at right now,” said Kevin “K.D.” Dunn, one of the five candidates who won. “[I ran] not to create a historical moment [but] just to try to enhance the quality of the city. They wanted to see fresh blood, they wanted to...
Hall of Famer Charles Barkley recently revealed in several interviews that he has plans to sell off some of his NBA memorabilia to help provide funds for affordable housing in his hometown of Leeds, Alabama. Barkley told WJOX 94.5 that he wants to make a difference in his old community and believes the best way to do so is to sell off his valuables, including his 1993 NBA MVP trophy, his 1996 Olympic gold medal and more memorabilia from the 1992 Dream Team. “I don’t think I have to walk around with my gold medal or my MVP trophy for people to know I’m Charles Barkley, so I’m going to sell all that crap,” Barkley said on the Dan Le Batard show last Thursday. “That just clutters my house. I used to keep it at my grandmother’s house, but they all passed away, and I don’t want that stuff crapping up my house.” The eyesores in the neighborhood, or rotted-out houses Barkley knew of growing up, have good reason to become spaces for affordable housing. “I want to work with the city of...