Juice WRLD’s girlfriend gives first public comment since rapper’s death

Juice WRLD’s girlfriend, Ally Lotti, gave her first public comment one week after the 21-year-old rapper died.

Lotti attended the Rolling Loud festival in Los Angeles’ Banc of California Stadium on Sunday and told the crowd that the love her man felt for them was real, reported Entertainment Tonight.

READ MORE: Juice WRLD’s mom gives powerful statement about son’s battle with drugs

“I just wanted to come out here and let everyone know that Jarad loved every single person that he helped on this earth. He literally loved every single one of you guys,” she said. “There is not a time when he had shown me any different love then he felt for you. He wants everyone to know that you need to take any negative, any negative thing in your life, he would tell you every time he saw you and change that to a positive situation.”

The audience wanted her to know the love was reciprocal. As Lotti wrapped up her speech and walked off the stage, the audience started chanting her name, according to Entertainment Tonight.

The “Lucid Dreams” rapper died on Sunday, Dec. 8th as his private jet landed in Chicago. His girlfriend told police that he had taken the painkiller, Percocet, and had battled a drug problem. Juice suffered a seizure and went into cardiac arrest at Midway Airport.

This past Friday, Juice’s family and friends paid tribute to the rapper at an open-casket funeral in Harvey, Illinois, according to ET. A day earlier, Nicki Minaj honored him as she received the Game-Changer Award at the Billboard Women In Music Awards program.

“I recently had the pleasure of working and touring with Juice WRLD,” Minaj said. “I had a great conversation with him one day and while we walked to the stage, he held my hand and told me to stay calm and to pray. He said he had been trying to do just that. I was so shocked to hear him of all people tell me that but right there in that moment with him telling me that I actually did feel calm and I actually felt like, ‘Hmm, what I am actually worried about?'”

Minaj went on to call Juice “a kindred spirit.”

“I felt like he was a kindred spirit, and looking back now, I wish I did something differently or said something to help,” Minaj added. “He spoke to me in detail about how in love he was with his girlfriend and how passionate he was about music and when he was in the studio with me, he did so many songs, so quickly. I want to honor him tonight and send my condolences to him and his family and his girlfriend and his friends and everybody.”

Minaj ended her talk urging the crowd to not pass judgment on people, including celebrities.

READ MORE: Rapper Juice WRLD reportedly ‘popped pills’ before he had seizure and went into cardiac arrest

“It’s so important that we don’t pass judgment so that people don’t feel ashamed to speak up and ask for help,” Minaj said. “It’s so important we talk about mental health, it is, because people are dying because they don’t want to express how miserable they are and how much they are suffering, so they’d rather medicate themselves. I came here tonight to ask people to be a little bit more forgiving and understanding, especially with entertainers. We can’t have a bad day.”

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Bowie State University student says family was denied entry to her graduation

A Bowie State University student graduated this past Friday without her family in the audience.

Aja Williams says although her family members had tickets to gain entry to the winter commencement ceremony they were refused entry because of an already at-capacity venue, according to Fox 5 DC.

READ MORE: Hate group plans to protest at Spelman, Morehouse, and Clark graduations

Williams’ family reportedly isn’t alone. Many families were denied entry into the Leonidas S. James Physical Education Complex because there was simply no room. The school has overflow rooms to accommodate family members and friends without tickets, although those with tickets are supposed to be allowed entry.

Williams says her family wasn’t and this is unacceptable. The new grad says she hopes university officials will choose a larger venue for future graduations.

“We spend thousands of dollars here, hundreds of hours studying and I just want them to realize that they need to be worried about accommodating the students first,” Williams told Fox 5.

At least one Bowie alumni agrees but said previous graduates are to blame for the on-campus conundrum.

“I am a Bowie alum and Bowie’s graduations use to take place in a larger venue (Xfinity Center) but graduates complained that they couldn’t take pictures on their own campus and/or Greek plots sooo it was moved back to the limited space of the gym and football field in the summer,” labella_mafiaa wrote on Fox 5’s Instagram page.

 

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A #BowieStateUniversity student says she was forced to walk across the stage without her family watching despite the fact that they had tickets to the winter commencement ceremony.⁣ ⁣ She told FOX 5’s @evanlamberttv “We spend thousands of dollars here, hundreds of hours studying and I just want them to realize that they need to be worried about accommodating the students first.” ⁣ ⁣ FULL STORY: https://tinyurl.com/tp6ltbt

A post shared by FOX 5 DC (@fox5dc) on Dec 16, 2019 at 6:15am PST

 

“There’s literally no way to accommodate everyone and people have to understand that. I will say that Bowie should monitor the amount of tickets given out if (it) continue(s) to have the graduation at Bowie so that if a family is late they will be able to still come in because they will be accounted for.”

READ MORE: Oprah checks Instagram troll who tries to shame her after Morehouse graduation surprise

Bowie officials also released a statement to Fox 5 about the mix-up.

“As is customary for our commencement ceremonies, we welcomed a large number of enthusiastic family members to celebrate our graduates on Friday. While tickets were required for admittance into the main venue, we have learned that some persons without tickets were trying to gain entry. We are reviewing our processes to make any needed adjustments to prevent this from occurring in the future,” Bowie officials wrote. “We very much regret that anyone experienced distress on this very important day for their family. We made every effort to accommodate ticketed family members while also providing video viewing in other locations on campus for those without tickets.”

 

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Uber driver gets blessed by passenger after he pays off her college debt

An Uber ride a year ago is what put the wheels into motion.

Driver Latonya Young picked up passenger, Kevin Esch, outside of Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium, following an Atlanta United match. They bonded. He shared with her how he was going through a divorce and in the process of moving. She told him about her dreams of going back to college once she pays off nearly $700 in outstanding bills to Georgia State University, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

READ MORE: African-American college loan debt at an all-time high

“He was telling me you’re never too old to get an education,” Young told the newspaper.

When Esch got out, he gave the 43-year-old single mom of three a $150 tip and they both wished each other well. The next time she would hear from him would be via text, to let her know he had paid off her outstanding $693 balance and that she could now re-enroll at GSU.

“It just made me feel good to do it,” Esch told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “I didn’t expect anything from it.”

Young said Esch’s good deed, along with his belief that she could do this, was the last push that she needed to re-enroll at the university.

“Nobody’s ever done anything so nice to me in my life,” Young told the newspaper.

Young said she stayed in touch with Esch over the past year, giving him updates on her classes and grades. Now that single act of kindness will see Young fulfill a lifelong dream: a college degree. The onetime high school dropout, who later earned her GED and went on to become a hairstylist, receives an associate’s degree in criminal justice this week.

She donned her black cap and gown recently and included Esch in her college photoshoot.

READ MORE: Billionaire Robert F. Smith also promises to pay off parents debt of Morehouse College graduates

Although Young said she would have eventually re-enrolled in college, she credits that one conversation and follow-up act of kindness for prompting her to do it right away. Now, Young is slated to start her bachelor’s degree in January, also at Georgia State University. She will be entering the school’s Andrew Young School of Policy Studies.

After this, law school.

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Sheryl Sandberg: Black women have been leaning in for a long time because there was no choice

If you are a woman in corporate America, you are probably familiar with the term, lean in. In 2013, lean in became a business term derived from the book, Lean In, written by Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook and CEO of Lean In. When the book first hit the shelves, it became a hit. Yet over the years, a number of women have been vocal about the lean in methodology not being as effective for all women. Late last year, former first lady Michelle Obama said that it does not work. And other leaders have weighed in on the matter in agreement.

In all of my readings of other perspectives on the practice of leaning in, I realized that no one had a conversation with Sandberg about their ideas, work, or experiences.

I recently had the opportunity to sit down with Sandberg for a one-on-one conversation about women in the workplace. When planning for our conversation, I knew that it would be important to explore the findings specific to black women in the 2019 Women in the Workplace report. I also knew that it was critical to speak with her about her thoughts about black women leaning in.

Related: Black Women in the Workplace Are Still Finding Their Footing on the Corporate Ladder

During our time together, I asked Sandberg about leaning in, mentorship, allyship, and how women in the workplace can find their voice.

There are a number of women of color, black women in particular, who think that leaning in does not work for them. What is your response to women who think that?

One of the good things about the title Lean In is it’s a very strong title. And everyone thinks they know what it means. One of the bad things about the title Lean In is it’s a very strong title–and everyone thinks they know what it means. The book never said, ‘it’s all on women to lean in all on their own.’ It doesn’t say that. My foundation’s work, from the beginning, has worked on both institutional issues and personal issues. But the name Lean In doesn’t really communicate that. The other thing is when I wrote Lean In, I just didn’t know that anyone would even read the thing. The original draft of the book had no stories, it was just data.

I got persuaded to put my story in. Data comes alive with stories. And there should have been many more stories from people with different backgrounds in the first version of the book. I think that would have solved the problem. One thing that’s super interesting is part of the message of Lean In, and not all of it. Part of it is, let’s make ambition safe for women. Black women are more ambitious.

What I hear is that black women have been leaning in for a long time because there was no [other] choice.

The data is now telling the stories we have this critical information about black women in the workplace. Lean In services women all around the world, is there work that the organization is doing specifically to advance black women in the workplace outside of the data and the stories that are being told?

We go by far the biggest on Black Women’s Equal Pay Day. Equal payday is a new thing. It took people a long time to figure out that women are paid less than men and it’s 18% for women overall. It’s 38% for black women. From the day of Equal Pay Day, you have to work through into 2020 to make the same amount of money, a white male makes in 2019. We do a huge push around black women’s equal pay day and I think that really matters.

What charge do you have for white women as it relates to forming allyships?

There’s this [idea] that women don’t help each other. And then across races, women don’t help each other. One, that’s not true. And two, we have to make it not true.

We [white women with privilege] need to make sure that as women we are trying to raise up all of us. It’s why my foundation does a deep dive on women of color in this data. When we solve the problem, it needs to be not just for white women, but for women of all backgrounds.

Related: New Study Proves Black Women Executives Can’t Catch a Break at Work

What advice do you have for women as they move forward as they climb corporate ladders, as they lean in, and especially find their voice in the workplace?

We have to tell women not to not ask. Ask for promotions, ask for raises, and demand to get paid equally.

I think women should say, ‘Hey, I know the data. And I know you’re probably paying a lot of attention to it—but I’m a woman or I’m a black woman and on average, we get paid 30% less. I want to make sure that you’ve benchmarked my offer to white men in this role. I’m sure you’re doing that. But if you could double-check that before I accept this job, I would really appreciate that.”

Related: Black Women Less Likely to be Promoted, Receive Recognition

 

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Sheryl Sandberg: Black women have been leaning in for a long time because there was no choice

If you are a woman in corporate America, you are probably familiar with the term, lean in. In 2013, lean in became a business term derived from the book, Lean In, written by Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook and CEO of Lean In. When the book first hit the shelves, it became a hit. Yet over the years, a number of women have been vocal about the lean in methodology not being as effective for all women. Late last year, former first lady Michelle Obama said that it does not work. And other leaders have weighed in on the matter in agreement.

In all of my readings of other perspectives on the practice of leaning in, I realized that no one had a conversation with Sandberg about their ideas, work, or experiences.

I recently had the opportunity to sit down with Sandberg for a one-on-one conversation about women in the workplace. When planning for our conversation, I knew that it would be important to explore the findings specific to black women in the 2019 Women in the Workplace report. I also knew that it was critical to speak with her about her thoughts about black women leaning in.

Related: Black Women in the Workplace Are Still Finding Their Footing on the Corporate Ladder

During our time together, I asked Sandberg about leaning in, mentorship, allyship, and how women in the workplace can find their voice.

There are a number of women of color, black women in particular, who think that leaning in does not work for them. What is your response to women who think that?

One of the good things about the title Lean In is it’s a very strong title. And everyone thinks they know what it means. One of the bad things about the title Lean In is it’s a very strong title–and everyone thinks they know what it means. The book never said, ‘it’s all on women to lean in all on their own.’ It doesn’t say that. My foundation’s work, from the beginning, has worked on both institutional issues and personal issues. But the name Lean In doesn’t really communicate that. The other thing is when I wrote Lean In, I just didn’t know that anyone would even read the thing. The original draft of the book had no stories, it was just data.

I got persuaded to put my story in. Data comes alive with stories. And there should have been many more stories from people with different backgrounds in the first version of the book. I think that would have solved the problem. One thing that’s super interesting is part of the message of Lean In, and not all of it. Part of it is, let’s make ambition safe for women. Black women are more ambitious.

What I hear is that black women have been leaning in for a long time because there was no [other] choice.

The data is now telling the stories we have this critical information about black women in the workplace. Lean In services women all around the world, is there work that the organization is doing specifically to advance black women in the workplace outside of the data and the stories that are being told?

We go by far the biggest on Black Women’s Equal Pay Day. Equal payday is a new thing. It took people a long time to figure out that women are paid less than men and it’s 18% for women overall. It’s 38% for black women. From the day of Equal Pay Day, you have to work through into 2020 to make the same amount of money, a white male makes in 2019. We do a huge push around black women’s equal pay day and I think that really matters.

What charge do you have for white women as it relates to forming allyships?

There’s this [idea] that women don’t help each other. And then across races, women don’t help each other. One, that’s not true. And two, we have to make it not true.

We [white women with privilege] need to make sure that as women we are trying to raise up all of us. It’s why my foundation does a deep dive on women of color in this data. When we solve the problem, it needs to be not just for white women, but for women of all backgrounds.

Related: New Study Proves Black Women Executives Can’t Catch a Break at Work

What advice do you have for women as they move forward as they climb corporate ladders, as they lean in, and especially find their voice in the workplace?

We have to tell women not to not ask. Ask for promotions, ask for raises, and demand to get paid equally.

I think women should say, ‘Hey, I know the data. And I know you’re probably paying a lot of attention to it—but I’m a woman or I’m a black woman and on average, we get paid 30% less. I want to make sure that you’ve benchmarked my offer to white men in this role. I’m sure you’re doing that. But if you could double-check that before I accept this job, I would really appreciate that.”

Related: Black Women Less Likely to be Promoted, Receive Recognition

 

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