Entertainment
“Beer Is Black History” is a limited edition Sacramento Kings – Andscape beer
Sacramento Kings fans got a Black History Month lesson in a can this month. Thanks to the unique cooperation of a local brewery Oak Park Brewery AND Hella coastal brewery from Oakland, California, OP Beam Hazy IPA was served in any respect home games during Black History Month. The union was brought together by a craft beer lifestyle brand Draft season as a part of the continuing “Beer is Black History” campaign.
The beer features African Queen hops imported from South Africa combined with New Zealand layered hops, a popular selection of many craft breweries resulting from its complex, dank aroma profile. There are also some stone fruit notes mixed with guava and citrus. This combination gives drinkers a less bitter, more juicy and fragrant experience, making the brew more appealing to individuals who don’t drink beer often, in addition to those that drink it often.
“We were all just thinking about what kind of mouthfeel we wanted and what notes we wanted to accentuate,” said Mario Benjamin, co-founder of Hella Coastal. “And at the same time, make it accessible.”
OP Beam debuted on February 7 throughout the Kings game against the Detroit Pistons. Fans learned concerning the collaboration during breaks in play through jumbotron interviews and were invited to go to the section where beer was sold.
“What’s great is that a lot of people that got here told us they didn’t even really drink beer, they simply got here because they watched it and saw it on the jumbotron and thought, ‘Oh, let’s leaf through that section and see what happens.’ . that they’re talking about,” said Kevin Irvin, co-founder of Draft Season. “They bought a beer, came back and let us know what they thought.”
The Kings lost the sport, however the beer won.
“It was also important to be able to educate and understand what the black history of beer means,” Irvin said.
The idea for Beer Is Black History was born a few months after Draft Season launched in October 2020. Draft Season was initially intended to offer craft beer lovers with clothes and accessories through which they might express themselves, very similar to sports fans have dozens of brands to select from. Their first drops included trucker hats, T-shirts and sweatshirts with beer-inspired logos and slogans. But as February 2021 approached, they desired to make a statement during Black History Month.
“I started doing some research and came across the entire story of how the first known beer recipe was created in 3900 BC in Mesopotamia by Sumerian black women,” said Draft Season co-founder Branden Peters. “I thought, oh, because I had no idea such a thing existed. We should tell this story, we should spread this message.”
Some historians claim that beer originated from the Sumerians, who were black because they called themselves “blackheads”, while others claim that they were North Africans and had black hair. Reports also say that beer was brewed throughout Africa before the recipe appeared in Mesopotamia. While all of this will likely be true, Penn Museum biomolecular archaeologist Patrick McGovern summed it up best when he said: Washington Post. that the primary beer probably got here from Africa, because that is where the primary people were.
“We had to have a real conversation about putting this in people’s faces and not tiptoeing around it,” Irvin said. “If we are going to fly this flag, we have to be brave.”
The statement was well received and spread quickly. The first capsule collection was designed by multi-tasking Atlanta designer (“International DJ/Event Curator/MC/Writer/Producer” based on his Instagram profile) Sean Falyon and was together with a lookbook featuring Grammy Award-winning rapper Killer Mike. This publication led to the “Beer Is Black History” campaign being introduced to Black-owned breweries across the country, who also bought into the message. In February 2022, draft season worked with three Black-owned breweries release “Beer Is Black History” brews, including one from Hella Coastal.
“When we met and started talking to each other, we felt like dudes we knew but didn’t know we knew,” said Benjamin, who was introduced to Draft Season by longtime reporter and craft beer expert Dennis “Ale Sharpton” Byron. Draft Season and the primary Hella Coastal collaboration, Overrated IPAwas released with great enthusiasm and its can art was appreciated by as certainly one of the highest 10 of 2022. “Everything was on the same page and we knew we wanted the same goal, which was to break down the barriers to what it looks like for Black people to own craft beer.”
Right now, Black ownership in craft beer is almost invisible. According to National Black Brewery AssociationAfrican American-owned breweries make up lower than 1% of the roughly 10,000 craft breweries operating within the United States, regardless that they account for 12% of beer drinkers.
“We don’t see enough of us in space,” Benjamin said, “so people will begin to get the impression that this is not the place for us. So I feel it’s really nearly creating that pathway and making those resources available in order that African Americans, men and ladies, and non-binary people can have access to those self same resources. But it also takes a lot of allyship for us to take it to the following level and really break down that barrier and the assumption that beer is just for the white guy with a beer belly and a beard. No, this is applicable to all of us and there is a lot behind it which you could learn from.
“When people just close Black and Brown breweries, they just miss out on what could have been,” said Rodg Little, co-owner of Oak Park Brewing. “Different cultures have different flavors. From my experience with the different cultures we work with, I know I’ve had some phenomenal beers.”
Since the vast majority of NBA players and lots of of their fans are Black, it might make sense for more Black-owned corporations to partner with NBA teams. If collaborations like OP Beam are successful, possibly it won’t be such an anomaly.
“Having ‘Beer is Black History’ front and center at the Golden 1 Center and having it on the jumbotron is the darkest thing that’s happened in the NBA since Craig Hodges wore a dashiki to the White House,” Peters said in 1991.
Entertainment
Melania slammed Donald Trump with third prenup change, fueling rumors of marital drama after she dodged his kiss and claim resurfaced
For years, there was speculation concerning the authenticity of the love between President-elect Donald Trump and his wife, Melania Trump. The theories intensified after Melania was caught repeatedly hiding from her husband’s public displays of affection for years.
Some imagine their relationship is solely business-related, a view that gained popularity when the New York Post reported in September 2023 that its alleged insider claimed that Melania had renegotiated her prenuptial agreement with the forty fifth president for the third time. The move followed Trump’s confirmation of his intention to hunt a second term as president after announcing his re-election campaign on November 15, 2022.
When the couple married in 2005, the initial prenuptial agreement reportedly significantly favored Donald Trump. However, since then the contract has been renegotiated not less than 3 times, with the primary renegotiation going down in 2017 and one other in 2020, when she served as apparently delayed moving to the White House – not less than that is what the New York Post claims in its unconfirmed reports. It is unclear why the thrice-married Trump would conform to loosen up his protections as part of such an arrangement.
In 2023, an alleged insider told the Post’s Page Six gossip column: “Over the past yr, Melania and her team have been quietly negotiating a brand new deal following the suspension of her contract with Donald Trump. This is not less than the third time Melania has renegotiated the terms of her marriage contract.
It continued to be claimed that Melania can be increasingly concerned about Trump’s mounting legal problems. Last yr, he was convicted of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in connection with making secret payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels. That same yr, Trump was also found liable in a civil suit for sexual abuse and defamation of author E. Jean Carroll. More than a yr ago, Trump was also charged in Atlanta with attempting to overturn the presidential vote within the 2020 elections in Georgia. Trump ultimately faced federal criminal charges related to his mishandling of classified documents after leaving office and the January 6 rebel.
With all this happening against Trump, Melania obviously desired to be certain she can be secure.
“This agreement was necessary due to ongoing legal disputes that (…) (Donald) has suffered,” the source said.
However, the insider also told Page Six that the postnuptial agreement doesn’t mean Melania plans to depart Trump.
They said the revised deal would also provide money for his or her 18-year-old son, Barron Trump.
“Melania is most concerned with maintaining and increasing the considerable trust she has in her son, Barron.”
Another source backed up this statement, saying, “I know she wanted this to provide her with more money, and also – from what I understand – there is at least a set amount that Barron is expected to get.”
Fans shared their thoughts on Melania renegotiating her prenup with The Daily Beast’s. side.
One person said: “Thanks to her we managed to save him. After filing for bankruptcy five times, he will be living on Melany’s benefits.”
The second wrote: “He must secure Barron’s future before the non-existent money disappears.”
A third commenter advised: “Honey, take the money and run.”
CNN is preparing for Trump’s second visit to the White House reported that his wife doesn’t plan to live in Washington full time. Sources told the news outlet that while Melania plans to attend essential events, she will spend loads of time living between New York City – as her son Barron attends NYU there – and Palm Beach, Florida, where many of her friends live.
Her reported impending absence from the White House has sparked whispers about whether Melania is serious about her responsibilities and priorities as first lady, but that is not all. It also sparked more speculation about whether she and Trump have a blissful marriage.
Even during Trump’s victory speech, a smiling Melania avoided being kissed by her husband as he sang her praises on stage. After thanking her and expressing his appreciation for her “best-selling book in the country,” Trump moves to hug and kiss his wife, then places her hand on her cheek as she turns her head barely.
Still, Melania assures doubters that every little thing is effective in her marriage to Trump. In September, she even tried to disclaim the rumors during an interview on “Fox & Friends.”
When asked what she liked about her husband, she replied: “His essence. His humor. His personality. His kindness,” he added later. “It’s very special. His positivity. His energy. It’s unbelievable. Yes, so we’ve got a fantastic relationship.
Entertainment
Jussie Smollett’s 2019 Self-Attack Conviction Overturned – Andscape
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — The Illinois Supreme Court on Thursday overturned the choice to fireside an actor Jussie Smollett conviction on charges of organizing a racist and anti-gay attack on himself in downtown Chicago in 2019 and lying to police.
The the state’s highest court ruled that the special prosecutor shouldn’t have been allowed to intervene after the Cook County state’s attorney initially dropped charges against Smollett in exchange for waiving $10,000 bail and performing community service. The ruling and appeal didn’t address Smollett’s continued claim of innocence.
Smollett, who’s black and gay, claims two men attacked him, hurled racist and anti-gay slurs and placed a noose around his neck, resulting in an enormous seek for suspects by Chicago police and sparking a world uproar. Smollett was starring in a television drama that was filmed in Chicago, and prosecutors alleged that he organized the attack because he was unhappy with the studio’s response to hate mail he received.
“We are aware that this case has generated significant public interest and that many people were dissatisfied with the resolution of the original case and considered it unfair,” Justice Elizabeth Rochford wrote in a 5-0 decision. “Nevertheless, more unfair than the resolution of any single criminal case would be for this court to find that the state is not obliged to honor agreements on which people have relied to their detriment.”
Smollett’s attorneys argued that the case ended with Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx’s office dropped initially 16 counts of disorderly conduct. A grand jury reinstated the fees after a special prosecutor took over the case. The jury convicted Smollett of five counts of disorderly conduct in 2021
Emails searching for comment were sent Thursday to Foxx’s office and Smollett’s attorney, who argued that Smollett was the victim of a racist and politicized justice system.
Testimony at trial showed that Smollett paid $3,500 to 2 men he knew to perform the attack. Prosecutors said he told them what insults to shout and shout that Smollett was in “MAGA country,” an apparent reference to Donald Trump’s presidential campaign slogan.
Smollett testified that “there was no fraud” and that he was the victim of a hate crime in his downtown Chicago neighborhood.
He was sentenced to 150 days in prison, six of which he had already served released pending further notice — 30 months probation and ordered to pay roughly $130,000 in restitution.
The state appeals court’s ruling upheld Smollett’s conviction, declaring that nobody promised Smollett that he would not face a brand new charge after accepting the unique deal.
Illinois Supreme Court Justice Mary Jane Theis and Justice Joy Cunningham didn’t take part in Thursday’s decision.
Entertainment
Lil Baby didn’t just rap about change – he went to Harvard to achieve it – Essence
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – JUNE 27: Songwriter of the Year Award winner Lil Baby speaks on stage on the ASCAP R&S Music Celebration on the London Hotel on June 27, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Lester Cohen/Getty Images for ASCAP)
Lil Baby will not be only considered one of the most important names in hip-hop – he can also be an aspiring entrepreneur who’s serious about taking his business knowledge to the subsequent level.
The GRAMMY Award-winning rapper recently participated in Harvard Business School’s “Launching New Ventures” program, a prestigious short course designed to help entrepreneurs grow their ventures through modern strategies. The program, which will not be a level-granting initiative, focuses on key entrepreneurial tools, including opportunity assessment, competitive evaluation and developing sustainable business models, – we read on this system’s website.
For Lil Baby, born Dominique Armani Jones, the move was greater than just earning bragging rights. Known for hits like and , the Atlanta native has all the time been open about his desire to construct a legacy beyond music. As head of his record label 4PF (Four Pockets Full), he is committed to creating opportunities for artists and running a business that will not be only profitable, but in addition influential. However, he realized that running a successful label required honing his skills, and Harvard was the right place for this.
Movie shared on X On Wednesday, we got to see Lil Baby participating within the show. The clip ended on a touching note as he was presented together with his certificate of completion, followed by a surprise ceremony organized by his family.
While critics were quick to indicate that he didn’t “graduate” from Harvard – despite misleading headlines – his decision to commit to this system is critical in itself. Shows like “Launching New Ventures” offer insights that may transform corporations and help entrepreneurs overcome challenges, and Lil Baby’s presence signals his commitment to constructing a legacy that goes far beyond music. For Lil Baby, the move is an element of a broader commitment to securing his position not only as a rapper, but in addition as a mogul. His commitment to self-improvement reflects the values he promotes through his music: perseverance, resilience and development.
It’s also value noting that Lil Baby’s decision to attend Harvard sends a powerful message to his community, especially Black entrepreneurs. In a world where barriers to business education still exist, his decision to pursue higher education shows that it’s never too late – or too unconventional – to take what you are promoting seriously.
As Lil Baby grows, one thing is obvious: his diligence knows no limits. Whether he’s behind the microphone or within the classroom, he proves that the important thing to success is to continually strive for more.
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