Diversity Expert Talks About Getting More Blacks Working In Golf

Pro golfer might be the only career that comes to mind when most people think of the PGA. But as a member organization, the PGA of America is responsible for recruiting, training, educating, and deploying all 29,000 people who have chosen careers in the business of golf.

The PGA is working hard to make sure that workforce mirrors America in terms of diversity. That’s why it has partnered with Black Enterprise for the video podcast series On The Tee, to “grow the game and drive greater inclusion across golf” by showcasing “the successes of people from diverse backgrounds working and playing in the industry.”

In the second episode, PGA’s Chief People Officer Sandy Cross sits down with diversity expert Porter Braswell. Braswell is the co-founder and CEO of Jopwell, the leading career advancement platform for black, Latinx, and Native American students and professionals. Jopwell is a strategic partner of the PGA, helping the organization achieve its aim of diversifying the workforce in the golf industry.

“We are so excited about this partnership, specifically because when we set out on this mission to build Jopwell, the goal was to expose our community to the breadth of opportunities that are available,” Braswell says. “And when I think about the PGA and the game of golf, historically, there have been challenges that have prevented certain communities from having access.”

Braswell and Cross discuss some of the many different ways Jopwell and the PGA are approaching their goal holistically and authentically. Representation is a large part of diversity and inclusion. So their first initiative was the Jopwell PGA Collection, a gallery of images which lets diverse audiences literally see themselves within the game of golf.

The aim is to get more blacks working in golf by “allowing the community to understand that they are welcomed,” says Braswell, “and that there are ample opportunities for them within the golf industry.”

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Oprah Winfrey Relaunches Book Club on Apple TV

Oprah Winfrey’s book club is back in action. The billionaire talk show host and entrepreneur has partnered with Apple for a new exclusive Apple TV+ series, called Oprah’s Book Club, premiering November 1. Winfrey’s first book selection is The Water Dancer (One World, $28.00) by award-winning reporter and essayist Ta-Nehisi Coates.

The book, which was officially released on Amazon on September 24, tells the story of a young boy born into bondage on a plantation and the mysterious power he discovers. It is the first novel written by Coates, author of the bestselling non-fiction books We Were Eight Years in Power and Between the World and Me, which won the National Book Award in 2015.

Coates revealed that he spent 10 years researching and writing The Water Dancer. “I actually started writing this before I started writing my second book, Between the World and Me, before I wrote ‘The Case for Reparations,’” he said during a recent appearance on CBS This Morning.

“The world’s been waiting for this novel and Ta-Nehisi Coates certainly didn’t need me to choose the novel to give it attention, but it is one of the best books I’ve ever read in my entire life,” said Winfrey on the show. “Right up there in the top five.”

Winfrey launched the first version of her book club in 1996. “My goal was to partner with Apple and have a wide bandwidth so we can create a community of readers around the world,” Winfrey said. “I am most excited for people all the world to start reading this and go to @oprahsbookclub and have discussion about it. When you start reading it, you’re going to want to talk to somebody.”

According to a press release, Winfrey will interview the authors of her book club selections at various locations. Apple TV+ subscribers will also get the opportunity to watch an interview between Winfrey and Coates next month on the streaming service.

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Portland woman kicked out restaurant for making whites uncomfortable files lawsuit

A Portland woman says she and her family were kicked out of a local restaurant because they are Black, a claim she made in a racial discrimination lawsuit against the establishment.

—Lynched Black Barbie found at Chicago high school sparks probe, soul searching—

Krystal Menefee filed the suit last week against Thatcher’s Restaurant and Lounge in Portland, Ore., charging that a bartender told them their business was not welcome, as white customers glared on, OregonLive reports.

Menefee said she has frequented the establishment with white co-workers, danced on tables and had a good time at the restaurant without an issue, but it was a completely different story when she arrived at the door with her family of about seven on on Aug. 23, writes the news outlet.

She explains that after a memorial service for an uncle, she and family members stopped at Thatcher’s to eat and drink, but the bartender had a problem when they played music on the jukebox.

Menefee said the bartender turned off the music and told them to “knock it off.” The bartender said the music made other people feel uncomfortable.

“We asked this couple nearby if we were bothering them, and they said, ‘no,’ ” Menefee said.  Menefee said the bartender turned the music back on, then off again.

“She says, ‘You’re not welcome here. You need to leave,’” Menefee said.

Menefee said she and her family left as all white customers stared them down.

She explained when she visited with white people before, this never occurred.

“We drink, laugh, joke, we’re being loud,” Menefee said. “We’ve been there dancing on tables, had impromptu karaoke sessions — nothing. Then I’m in there with my black family and it’s ‘Get out.’”

Menefee says in the suit she was “shocked, embarrassed and racially profiled.”

Menefee’s attorney, Michael Fuller, said she posted her story on Facebook where others shared similar experiences.

“It’s usually really easy for big companies to come up with a pretext,” he said. “I’d say what we have found that it’s a failure to supervise — often companies have policies but aren’t implementing them.”

Menefee said while she’s not seeking financial compensation, she thinks it’s necessary to file a suit to show that this behavior is not ok.

—Jordan Peele inks MAJOR 5-year deal with Universal Pictures—

“I feel like people are very comfortable with treating black people like this,” Menefee said. “I want them to know it’s not OK — we’re here, we’re visible. Don’t negate us.”

“I think it’s so normalized — people become desensitized to being treated badly,” Menefee said. “Someone will follow you at the store, or people will put your money down on the counter but put it into someone else’s hand.”

Menefee said she hopes the business works to treat all customers fairly.

“If the practices change, and more people of color feel welcome there,” she said. “But at this point, no. I don’t want to be treated like that again.”

The post Portland woman kicked out restaurant for making whites uncomfortable files lawsuit appeared first on theGrio.

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Prince Harry slams British tabloid, as Meghan Markle launches lawsuit

Meghan Markle and husband Prince Harry filed a lawsuit against British tabloid The Daily Mail, after editors printed a letter she wrote to her father Thomas Markle.

–-Meghan Markle’s mother Doria Ragland runs 5K for a suicide prevention charity-

In a blistering letter, Prince Harry on Tuesday condemned the tabloid for participating in behavior that “destroys lives,” The Washington Post reports.

The Duchess of Sussex initiated the legal filing in London’s High Court against the newspaper, accusing the publication of “unlawfully” publishing her private letter that was written to her dad after her wedding and published Feb. 10.

Harry condemned The Daily Mail, charging that its editors are creating an environment that is putting his wife at the same risk and possible fate as his mother who was relentlessly pursued by the paparazzi and died in a fatal car crash in 1997.

Harry said Meghan had become “one of the latest victims” of the publication, which “wages campaigns against individuals with no thought to the consequences.”

Prince Harry said his “deepest fear is history repeating itself.”

“I lost my mother and now I watch my wife falling victim to the same powerful forces.”

Harry described the Daily Mail’s actions as “bullying” and a “ruthless campaign.”

“There comes a point when the only thing to do is to stand up to this behavior, because it destroys people and destroys lives. Put simply, it is bullying, which scares and silences people. We all know this isn’t acceptable, at any level. We won’t and can’t believe in a world where there is no accountability for this,” he said.

Harry and Meghan contend that publishing the letter “unlawfully in an intentionally destructive manner to manipulate you, the reader, and further the divisive agenda of the media group in question.”

“In addition to their unlawful publication of this private document, they purposely misled you by strategically omitting select paragraphs, specific sentences, and even singular words to mask the lies they had perpetuated for over a year,” Harry said.

Harry said there is a “human cost to this relentless propaganda, specifically when it is knowingly false and malicious, and though we have continued to put on a brave face — as so many of you can relate to — I cannot begin to describe how painful it has been.”

Harry and Meghan have been touring southern Africa despite the bombshell lawsuit they are continuing their days of engagement.

–Jessye Norman, international opera star, dead at 74–

And the “positive” news coverage on their tour, he said, highlights the “double standards of this specific press pack that has vilified her almost daily for the past nine months; they have been able to create lie after lie at her expense simply because she has not been visible while on maternity leave.”

“She is the same woman she was a year ago on our wedding day, just as she is the same woman you’ve seen on this Africa tour,” he said.

He slammed the media saying for “select media this is a game, and one that we have been unwilling to play from the start. I have been a silent witness to her private suffering for too long.”

The post Prince Harry slams British tabloid, as Meghan Markle launches lawsuit appeared first on theGrio.

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