Issa Rae Partners with Hilltop Coffee + Kitchen

Issa Rae continues the building of her empire! The multifaceted businesswoman has partnered with Hilltop Coffee and Kitchen to bring the cafe to the location in Inglewood, California.

Rae becomes an equity partner with Hilltop Coffee + Kitchen founders Ajay Relan and Yonnie Hagos. Relan and Hagos opened the original Hilltop Coffee + Kitchen in View Park-Windsor Hills in August 2018 with the intention of creating a hub for the South LA community; an inclusive space conducive to community, creativity, and connection over quality food and drink. Their second location in downtown Inglewood will serve as their flagship and is occupied in the space that used to be Sweetie Pies, across from the iconic Stevie Wonder-owned 102.3 KJLH-FM studios, located at 170 N. La Brea Avenue.

The actress posted on Instagram.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

Elated and proud to be a partner and co-owner of @findyourhilltop! Our Inglewood location officially opens TODAY! Come through and check us out! Much love to @yonniehagos & @ajayfresh for seeing the vision through!

A post shared by Issa Rae (@issarae) on Dec 9, 2019 at 9:38am PST

“South LA made us—we all have roots here. I went to elementary school at Inglewood Christian right around the corner,” Hagos says in a press release. “It means everything to us to bring this to a neighborhood where we spent our formative years.”

Said Relan, “From the day we opened on Slauson, the greatest gift we’ve received is looking around the space and seeing people just like Issa — creative, talented, ambitious, and full of positive energy — connecting with each other and finding and climbing their own hilltops. We couldn’t possibly have connected with someone who represents ‘The Climb’ better than Issa to expand our mission.”

“South L.A. is my home and joining Ajay and Yonnie as owners of this community-driven endeavor is a dream come true. South Los Angeles is drastically changing and it’s important to have safe spaces for local people of color and creatives to come and find each other. Hilltop’s mission to uplift our communities through food and fellowship falls right in line with my passions and I’m proud to highlight and amplify such a meaningful business,” stated Rae.

Rae started receiving attention for the YouTube web series Awkward Black Girl before creating, co-writing, and starring in the HBO television series, Insecure. She has received two Golden Globe nominations for Best Actress-Television Series Musical or Comedy and a Primetime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series. Rae has also written a New York Times best-selling memoir, The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl (37 Ink, $16.00). Rae is reportedly working on producing a remake of the 1996 film Set It Off.

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Scientists Say They've Found Possible Evidence of Mass Graves from 1921 Tulsa Massacre

Forensic archaeologists in Tulsa, Okla., appear one step closer to identifying the site where hundreds of black residents were buried after the 1921 Tulsa Massacre, considered one of the worst episodes of white supremacist violence in U.S. history.

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Young Dirty Bastard Honors Father, Ol’ Dirty Bastard, With Young Dirty Brew Honey Ale

Russell “Ol’ Dirty Bastard” Tyrone Jones’ son, Barson Unique Jones AKA Young Dirty Bastard, is honoring his father with the release of Young Dirty Brew Honey Ale.

Young Dirty invested $60,000 into the beer company and made a business connection with Circa Brewing. “I had a dream. When I was a baby, I seen my father drink, he was drinking Olde English, 40s. So, about time I got like, I give it 9-years-old, I caught a little Olde English,” he says. “He left it there sitting, I tasted it, I got an idea, I’ma come out with a drink, Young Dirty Brew. And that’s how it all happened, right in Brooklyn, the heart of Brooklyn,” he told TMZ.

It took about six months to perfect the ale and it was done with the help of his business partners, Divine Everlasting and Logan Feldman. Young Dirty Brew is slated to officially launch on New Year’s Eve in select New York bars and liquor stores and will be available for purchase online.

Young Dirty is presently appearing on the WE TV reality show, Growing Up Hip Hop: New York along with other notable cast members. Ja Rule and his children Jeff Bruce Atkins Jr. and Brittney Atkins; Murder Inc. founder Irv Gotti and children, Angie Pearson and Jonathan “JJ” Wilson Lorenzo; Fat Joe and his son Ryan Cartagena; Charli Baltimore and daughter DJ Siaani; Flavor Flav’s daughter, Da’Zyna; JoJo Simmons, son of Rev. Run (Run-DMC; Lil’ Mama and her brother Arnstar; and DJ Kid Capri with his daughter Vina Love.

He’s also released music regularly since 2011, and just recently released a single called “Bar Sun” on Nov. 16, on what would have been Ol’ Dirty Bastard’s 51st birthday.

Ol’ Dirty Bastard was one of the founding members of the Wu-Tang Clan, a rap group from Staten Island, New York, who rose to mainstream prominence with its 1993 debut album Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers). His career was cut short when he died on Nov. 13, 2004, of a drug overdose, two days before his 36th birthday. His stage name was a combination from the 1980 martial arts film Ol’ Dirty and the Bastard.

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Young Dirty Bastard Honors Father, Ol’ Dirty Bastard, With Young Dirty Brew Honey Ale

Russell “Ol’ Dirty Bastard” Tyrone Jones’ son, Barson Unique Jones AKA Young Dirty Bastard, is honoring his father with the release of Young Dirty Brew Honey Ale.

Young Dirty invested $60,000 into the beer company and made a business connection with Circa Brewing. “I had a dream. When I was a baby, I seen my father drink, he was drinking Olde English, 40s. So, about time I got like, I give it 9-years-old, I caught a little Olde English,” he says. “He left it there sitting, I tasted it, I got an idea, I’ma come out with a drink, Young Dirty Brew. And that’s how it all happened, right in Brooklyn, the heart of Brooklyn,” he told TMZ.

It took about six months to perfect the ale and it was done with the help of his business partners, Divine Everlasting and Logan Feldman. Young Dirty Brew is slated to officially launch on New Year’s Eve in select New York bars and liquor stores and will be available for purchase online.

Young Dirty is presently appearing on the WE TV reality show, Growing Up Hip Hop: New York along with other notable cast members. Ja Rule and his children Jeff Bruce Atkins Jr. and Brittney Atkins; Murder Inc. founder Irv Gotti and children, Angie Pearson and Jonathan “JJ” Wilson Lorenzo; Fat Joe and his son Ryan Cartagena; Charli Baltimore and daughter DJ Siaani; Flavor Flav’s daughter, Da’Zyna; JoJo Simmons, son of Rev. Run (Run-DMC; Lil’ Mama and her brother Arnstar; and DJ Kid Capri with his daughter Vina Love.

He’s also released music regularly since 2011, and just recently released a single called “Bar Sun” on Nov. 16, on what would have been Ol’ Dirty Bastard’s 51st birthday.

Ol’ Dirty Bastard was one of the founding members of the Wu-Tang Clan, a rap group from Staten Island, New York, who rose to mainstream prominence with its 1993 debut album Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers). His career was cut short when he died on Nov. 13, 2004, of a drug overdose, two days before his 36th birthday. His stage name was a combination from the 1980 martial arts film Ol’ Dirty and the Bastard.

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Birmingham mayor, Randall Woodfin, backing Biden for president

By ERRIN HAINES AP National Writer
The mayor of Alabama’s largest city is endorsing Joe Biden for the 2020 Democratic Party presidential nomination just weeks after the vice president met with a group of Southern black mayors representing millions of voters in key early primary states.
In an exclusive interview with The Associated Press on Sunday, Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin said he left that Atlanta meeting in November convinced that Biden is the best choice to defeat President Donald Trump and lead the country.

“I think he would view mayors as his partners in the campaign and he would view us as partners in the White House,” Woodfin said. “That’s important to me.”

Woodfin’s endorsement, which he is expected to announce on Monday, is the latest amid a scramble among the 2020 candidates to shore up support with mayors.

Late 2020 entry Michael Bloomberg — the former mayor of New York whose philanthropy has supported mayors across the country with training and millions of dollars in funding for city initiatives — has secured the backing of eight mayors since entering the field last month, including black mayors in Southern cities with large black populations whose voters could factor into the primary contest. Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney endorsed Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren in October.

Pete Buttigieg is the current mayor of South Bend, Indiana, New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker is former mayor of Newark, New Jersey. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders is former mayor of Burlington, and ex-Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro is former mayor of San Antonio.

Woodfin said the role of mayors as candidates and proxies for candidates this cycle is notable.

“As mayors as executives, we have to deal with issues every single day,” Woodfin said. “Regardless of the size of their city, it’s important to to take their candidacies seriously.”
Mayors — and particularly black mayors across the South — could play a major role on the early calendar. Alabama is a Super Tuesday state and is one of four Southern states on the ballot March 3, including North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia. All have significant black populations.

“We can acknowledge that 72 hours after South Carolina is Super Tuesday,” Woodfin said. “Since 1992, whoever wins South Carolina wins a majority of the Southern states. Embedded in that math is people. Black women … are the base of the party, and we must respect that.”

Woodfin represents a city with a metro area population of 1.3 million that is 74% African American. He was among four black Southern mayors who issued an open letter earlier this year to 2020 Democratic hopefuls seeking their support, calling on them to address priorities including affordable housing, climate change, health care and criminal justice.
One of the letter’s signers, Mayor Steve Benjamin of Columbia, South Carolina, was among Bloomberg’s early endorsers.

Specifically, Woodfin pointed to Biden’s work on infrastructure under President Barack Obama and his continued support for the Affordable Care Act as reasons for his endorsement. Alabama is among the states that did not expand Medicaid, and Woodfin’s city has the country’s fourth-largest public hospital and a 29% poverty rate.
Woodfin added that next year’s U.S. Senate race — with embattled Democrat Doug Jones fighting for reelection — and the 2020 fight in legislatures over redistricting could all be helped by a Biden candidacy.

“You need somebody at the top of the ticket who can help down ballot candidates and expand the map nationwide,” Woodfin said. “From all the evidence I’ve seen, Vice President Biden gives us the best chance to do that.”

Still, Woodfin said it will be important for Democratic mayors to come together after a hard-fought primary to galvanize the electorate in their respective cities to defeat their common enemy.

“Speaking with one voice behind one candidate is going to be important,” Woodfin said. “When you think about the different mayors who have endorsed, we all agreed with us writing that letter, that didn’t mean all of us would endorse the same candidate. When the primary’s over, I expect all of us to come together. As mayors, we’re all still in this together.”
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Haines has covered race and politics for The Associated Press since 2015. Follow her work on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/emarvelous.
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Catch up on the 2020 election campaign with AP experts on our weekly politics podcast, “Ground Game.”

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