Jewish denomination passes reparations resolution for Black Americans

The largest Jewish denomination in North America has recently backed a resolution that would give reparations to address the enduring effects of slavery.

At The Union for Reform Judaism’s biennial meeting last Friday, delegates passed a resolution that calls for the creation of a federal commission to look into ways to atone for slavery and systemic racism against Black people, according to Huff Post.

READ MORE: Trump mocks Rep. Ilhan Omar in speech before Jewish Republican Group

The biennial meeting is the largest Jewish gathering in North America with more than 5,000 participants from 525 congregations. The participants come from 54 states and provinces and 75 international congregations, according to the Union for Reform Judaism.

The biennial event was held in Chicago.

The resolution addresses the history and impact of slavery in the United States and addresses how Black people are still subjected to racial inequities across many areas in the United States, from housing and education to criminal justice, jobs and healthcare.

“Such injustices will endure unless proactive steps are taken to acknowledge and eliminate them,” the resolution states, according to Huff Post.

The resolution stops short of calling for a particular form of reparations, but urges a few ideas to consider, such as “expressions of remorse, education, monetary compensation, and more.” It said Jewish texts state the “importance of restitution for wrongs committed,” according to Huff Post.

“The rabbis understood that the victim of a crime was made whole by financial repayment for damages done,” the resolution states. “Maimonides (a Jewish scholar) went one step further, linking the payment of damages to the concept of t’shuvah, noting that repentance must accompany the financial commitment.”

Yolanda Savage-Narva, a Black, Jewish woman who serves as vice chair of Reform Judaism’s Commission on Social Action, said the resolution acknowledges the “systemic oppression” in America that has been passed down for generations.

“Looking at something like reparations for Black people in this country is something that is very important when we’re thinking about healing the racial wounds that have been inflicted on this country for at least 400 years,” Savage-Narva told HuffPost.

READ MORE: Angela Davis shares her thoughts on Jewish community concerns after her human rights award was rescinded

The URJ claims to be the first major Jewish organization to endorse reparations for slavery. It says the United States needs to take a cue from other world leaders and governments that have repaid for their wrongdoing. The German government, for example, has given more than $70 billion in reparations to more than 800,000 Holocaust survivors, reported Huff Post.

Also, in 1980, the U.S. Congress backed reparations for Japanese Americans who were incarcerated during World War II. The U.S. government apologized for this crime and paid $20,000 for each survivor.

 

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André 3000 says no new music is coming, focus and confidence is lacking

Fans of André 3000 may have to wait a bit longer to hear any new rap music.

In an interview with Rick Rubin of the Broken Record podcast, André 3000, born André Benjamin, said that his creative juices aren’t flowing for either a solo album or work as part of the Hip-Hop group, Outkast with partner, Big Boi. “I’d like to, but it’s just not coming,” André said.

READ MORE: André 3000 plays a secret agent in teaser for new series ‘Dispatches From Elsewhere’

André 3000’s last album release, Idlewild with Outkast, came out in 2006.

“I haven’t been making much music, man” Benjamin told Rubin. “My focus is not there, my confidence is not there.” According to The Fader, Benjamin tells Rubin that his commercial success has actually hindered his creative ability. “Once the attention is on that world, the world goes away,” Benjamin said.

He also discussed how critical people have been with even his solo releases, and how that has also negatively impacted his creative drive. “Any little thing I put out… people nitpick it with a fine-tooth comb. ‘Oh, he said that word!‘ And that’s not a great place to create from. And it makes you drawback.”

Benjamin didn’t close the door, however, on all music.

“I’m trying to find out what makes me feel the best right now. What makes me feel the best is when I do these random… instrumental kind of things. They make me feel the most rebellious,” he told the podcast, according to Fader.

Benjamin may be limiting the music he puts out, but he is still acting.

READ MORE: Outkast reunites for a day, then Andre 3000 releases two new Mother’s Day tracks

According to Deadline, André has signed on to act in Dispatches from Elsewhere, a 10-episode series about a group of regular people who “stumble onto a puzzle,” and discover a deep mystery. André was reportedly recently seen playing a Mayan double flute in Philadelphia, leaving some to speculate that he was in the city filming the show.

Last year, he acted in High Life, and also played Jimi Hendrix in the 2013 movie Jimi: All Is by My Side.

On television, André has acted in American Crime, starring Regina King.

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This Black Entrepreneur Went From Section 8 Housing to Owning Multiple Homes

Rahkim Sabree lives by the mantra, “Each one, teach one,” he says. “Each one, reach one. If you know, teach. If you don’t know, learn.”

Sabree has risen up from hard beginnings in Section 8 housing to become a personal finance expert, an author, a public speaker and a non-profit co-founder.  He is also out with a new book Financially Irresponsible, where he discusses his experiences for those looking to become financially empowered.

The book challenges readers to inspect their financial norms.  Everything from saving, investing, home ownership and planning for retirement.  Seen through Sabree’s point-of-view, the book discusses mindsets, beliefs, strategies and practices of personal finance.

Sabree has achieved many accomplishments in his young adulthood.  He achieved the coveted 800 FICO credit score, and purchased his first home before the age of 30.  “These were not things discussed growing up in Mount Vernon, NY”, he told BlackNews.com. Sabree also gave a TEDx talk in Harford, CT.  He had the audience’s full attention as he discussed that financial conversation should be had in every classroom, at every dinner table and every holiday to increase literacy on the subject.

Sabree also discussed how he leverages social media for both his business and philanthropic endeavors.  “Times are changing and the way people choose to perform interactions are changing as well. Banks specifically, but any business in general, are flocking to where their consumers are. I like to think of Social Media as sort of a digital playground. People aren’t satisfied with the old fashioned monkey bar/sand box/swing set combo when you have the trampoline park complete with laser tag sitting across the street. As more people engage in everyday interactions on social, businesses need to establish a presence there to continue to thrive” he told The Social Influencer.

For more information about Rakim Sabree and/or if you want to see his TEDx talk, visit his official web site at www.rahkimsabree.com

 

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This Black Entrepreneur Went From Section 8 Housing to Owning Multiple Homes

Rahkim Sabree lives by the mantra, “Each one, teach one,” he says. “Each one, reach one. If you know, teach. If you don’t know, learn.”

Sabree has risen up from hard beginnings in Section 8 housing to become a personal finance expert, an author, a public speaker and a non-profit co-founder.  He is also out with a new book Financially Irresponsible, where he discusses his experiences for those looking to become financially empowered.

The book challenges readers to inspect their financial norms.  Everything from saving, investing, home ownership and planning for retirement.  Seen through Sabree’s point-of-view, the book discusses mindsets, beliefs, strategies and practices of personal finance.

Sabree has achieved many accomplishments in his young adulthood.  He achieved the coveted 800 FICO credit score, and purchased his first home before the age of 30.  “These were not things discussed growing up in Mount Vernon, NY”, he told BlackNews.com. Sabree also gave a TEDx talk in Harford, CT.  He had the audience’s full attention as he discussed that financial conversation should be had in every classroom, at every dinner table and every holiday to increase literacy on the subject.

Sabree also discussed how he leverages social media for both his business and philanthropic endeavors.  “Times are changing and the way people choose to perform interactions are changing as well. Banks specifically, but any business in general, are flocking to where their consumers are. I like to think of Social Media as sort of a digital playground. People aren’t satisfied with the old fashioned monkey bar/sand box/swing set combo when you have the trampoline park complete with laser tag sitting across the street. As more people engage in everyday interactions on social, businesses need to establish a presence there to continue to thrive” he told The Social Influencer.

For more information about Rakim Sabree and/or if you want to see his TEDx talk, visit his official web site at www.rahkimsabree.com

 

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Profiles of Principled Entrepreneurship: Pilot.ly’s Cultural Insights Technology is Changing the Way Content Creators do Business

In the second series of the Profiles of Principal Entrepreneurship presented by Koch Industry, BLACK ENTERPRISE focuses on entrepreneurs who are driving innovation, taking risks, and striving to have a lasting impact on their communities.

In the first installment of the series, we sat down with James Norman, founder and CEO of Pilot.ly, a cultural insights technology company, at his Oakland, California, headquarters. Norman believes that you have to have an ‘ignorant’ amount of confidence in order to be a successful entrepreneur.

At the age of 9, Norman began his entrepreneurial journey and by the time he was 16-years-old, he began to sell home audio devices. After receiving feedback from his peers, he pivoted to selling car audio to be able to meet the needs of his customers.

“That was my first point of customer feedback. I was like, ‘Oh, there’s actually a customer base, and they have a thing they want. So let me provide that and focus on building a business in that way.’ And so we ended up building a really burgeoning car audio business back in ’96,” said Norman.

Years later, his ability to build products and innovate through technology ultimately led him to become a serial entrepreneur.

Now through the Oakland-based company, content distributors better understand why people feel the way that they do about content through the company’s cultural insights technology.

Pilot.ly is a community of entertainment enthusiasts who want to help shape the media around them. Working with the content creators of the world, their mission is to connect them with viewers who can give articulate opinions which can then be used to improve their videos.

Meet James Norman

Doing business in Oakland

Norman strategically chose to headquarter his business in Oakland as it is a growing economy.

“We have a very established community of black and brown people. That’s something that a lot of us didn’t grow up around. So, to see it on a daily basis is inspiring. I’m literally on a text message with 12 people, and these dudes are doing it. To have those people around you all the time is really irreplaceable. That’s what you get here. We all end up out here…there’s nowhere else you really want to be. New York’s too fast, Chicago’s too cold. Atlanta’s too hot. This is the perfect place.”

As an efficacious founder in the Bay Area, Norman is passionate about making sure that other founders of color win. That is why he created Transparent Collective, a nonprofit that helps African American, Latinx, and female founders access the growth resources and connections they need to build successful tech companies. ​

Related: The Gathering Spot Transforms Black Businesses and Communities

Great teams help drive innovation

Norman has a diverse team of top talent. And as a leader, he has learned that success is measured by how well others on his team are doing collectively.

“You cannot afford to be fighting with people internally while you’re already fighting the rest of the world to get business done. We’re trying to create a culture here that is both conducive to us being productive internally, but also fits within the industry once we’re operating.”

To that point, as a businessman, Norman says, “When you’re running a business, you’ve got to operate like a business. Any free time you have has to be somehow allocated to see how that business can be accelerated. You’ll think you have free time, but if you have free time, you’re not really running a business.”

In addition to time and resource management, Norman also has this advice to off entrepreneurs looking to gain success.

“Get yourself in the place where you feel like you’re moving towards your vision so you feel really positive about what you’re doing. And along the way, always be open to conversation and disseminating information that you’re capturing to keep moving towards your goal.”

 

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