Congressman John Lewis Urges Attendees of Selma’s ‘Bloody Sunday’ Commemorative March to Vote

Georgia Rep. John Lewis surprised attendees at this year’s Bloody Sunday commemorative march in Selma, Alabama, imploring all attendees to vote, CNN reports. Attendees marched in remembrance across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in the afternoon to commemorate the freedom-marchers who were clubbed and tear-gassed by state troopers as they peacefully marched over the same bridge over half a century ago on March 7, 1965. Seventeen people were hospitalized including Lewis after being injured by police while dozens more were hurt. The protest was held against the denial of civil rights to Americans based solely on the color of their skin, which prompted the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

“Fifty-five years ago, a few of God’s children attempted to march … across this bridge. We were beaten, we were tear-gassed. I thought I was going to die on this bridge. But somehow and some way, God almighty helped me here,” Lewis said during his remarks on Sunday at the apex of the bridge, “We must go out and vote like we never, ever voted before.” Lewis also encouraged those attending to use their vote as “a nonviolent instrument or tool to redeem the soul of America.”

“To see hundreds and thousands of young people with their mothers, their fathers, their grandparents, great grandparents, to see Black and White people, Hispanics, and others standing together, marching together, walking together, to not forget what happened and how it happened,” he said.

“We got to make America better for all of her people. When no one is left out or left behind, because of their race, their color, because of where they grew up, or where they were born,” he added. “We’re one people, we’re one family.”

It was unclear if Lewis would be able to attend the commemorative march as he was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer back in December but a spokeswoman for the commemoration march organizers told CNN that Lewis would be at the front of the march participants—the same position he has been at previous anniversary marches.

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NJ Superintendent Says He Has 'No Problem' With Racist Teachers. When Black Parents Speak Out, District Calls Cops

Parents in a New Jersey school district began calling for the resignation of an interim superintendent after the school board official allegedly said he doesn’t mind racist teachers. When the superintendent further offended residents by whitesplaining that he was not racist because his family employed black…

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Did Bergdorf Goodman racially profile Wendy Williams and NeNe Leakes?

Wendy Williams believes she and good friends, Nene Leakes and Marlo Hampton, were racially profiled during a shopping trip at Bergdorf Goodman.

READ MORE: Wendy Williams slammed for ‘Price Is Right’ joke about death of Drew Carey’s ex-fiancée

During the Hot Topics segment of her show, a visibly upset Williams told her audience about the incident that reportedly happened at the upscale retail store in Manhattan. She told viewers that she, Leakes, of the Real Housewives of Atlanta fame, and Hampton, also with RHOA, were spending money on negligees, gowns, and shoes and had even stopped upstairs for lunch, but that security was always around.

“Can I tell you about the security? They treated us like the hood,” Williams said, emphasizing her skin color when she said the word “us,” according to Dailymail.com.

Williams, 55, implied that it didn’t matter that she and her friends are millionaires and widely known. She said they were still racially profiled.

“You can earn what you want, you can do what you want but when you are what you are, you better not be surprised at how people treat you,” Williams said, reported DailyMail.com. “We were followed … like (the security) might have to do something.”

Williams said “this place,” told her she couldn’t post the picture of her in the store, but she did anyway.

“So when this place tells me I can’t post this picture, I’m like ‘You know what, I’m posting on hot topics then and I’m going to tell you exactly what it is,’” Williams added.

Bergdorf Goodman did not respond to a request for comment, Dailymail.com reported. Representatives for Leakes and Hampton also didn’t reply to the newspaper’s request for comment.

It isn’t the first time Bergdorf Goodman has been accused publicly of racial profiling. There was an incident in 2013 when the store lost a Black customer who said he went to buy shirts at the store but the sales staff just stared at him and wouldn’t help him so he left.

READ MORE: Wendy Williams apologizes to LGBTQ+ community for ‘out of touch’ comments

Bergdorf Goodman does prohibit profiling in its “Customers’ Bill of Rights’ which says “profiling is an unacceptable practice and will not be tolerated.”

“Bergdorf Goodman strictly prohibits … the profiling of customers by an employee. The participation by employees in such activities or the failure to report such instances of which they have knowledge is a violation of company policy,” the Bill of Rights adds.

The post Did Bergdorf Goodman racially profile Wendy Williams and NeNe Leakes? appeared first on TheGrio.

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Congressman John Lewis Urges Attendees of Selma’s ‘Bloody Sunday’ Commemorative March to Vote

Georgia Rep. John Lewis surprised attendees at this year’s Bloody Sunday commemorative march in Selma, Alabama, imploring all attendees to vote, CNN reports. Attendees marched in remembrance across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in the afternoon to commemorate the freedom-marchers who were clubbed and tear-gassed by state troopers as they peacefully marched over the same bridge over half a century ago on March 7, 1965. Seventeen people were hospitalized including Lewis after being injured by police while dozens more were hurt. The protest was held against the denial of civil rights to Americans based solely on the color of their skin, which prompted the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

“Fifty-five years ago, a few of God’s children attempted to march … across this bridge. We were beaten, we were tear-gassed. I thought I was going to die on this bridge. But somehow and some way, God almighty helped me here,” Lewis said during his remarks on Sunday at the apex of the bridge, “We must go out and vote like we never, ever voted before.” Lewis also encouraged those attending to use their vote as “a nonviolent instrument or tool to redeem the soul of America.”

“To see hundreds and thousands of young people with their mothers, their fathers, their grandparents, great grandparents, to see Black and White people, Hispanics, and others standing together, marching together, walking together, to not forget what happened and how it happened,” he said.

“We got to make America better for all of her people. When no one is left out or left behind, because of their race, their color, because of where they grew up, or where they were born,” he added. “We’re one people, we’re one family.”

It was unclear if Lewis would be able to attend the commemorative march as he was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer back in December but a spokeswoman for the commemoration march organizers told CNN that Lewis would be at the front of the march participants—the same position he has been at previous anniversary marches.

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Black-Owned Truck and Bus Center Grows Larger With $15 Million Expansion

K. Neal Truck and Bus Center, a commercial truck and bus dealership serving the Washington, D.C., area, has invested more than $15 million to build a larger headquarters and expand its corporate facilities.

At the same time, the Hyattsville, Maryland-based company that is only one of two black-owned commercial truck and bus dealerships in the country, has acquired eight acres for its new headquarters and mixed-use land development. The project is part of the company’s efforts to support new commercial development vital to the prosperity of Prince George’s County.

Run by father-and-son duo Chairman and CEO Stephen W. Neal and President Korey Neal, the company generated $103.5 million in revenue in 2018 and ranked No. 35 on Black Enterprise’s 2019 Top 100s list, an annual ranking of the top black-owned businesses in the nation.

The business demolished the previous building it occupied for its headquarters since the 1960s, allowing it to complete construction on the new structure. The corporate headquarters facility includes all administrative functions including accounting, marketing, and finance. The company has multiple locations serving the Washington D.C. Metropolitan region.

Korey Neal says the new 40,000-square foot two-story headquarters and state-of-the-art corporate facility will allow the company to serve customers faster by expanding its service footprint capacity by 40%. The expansion enables the company to boost the size of its operations in multiple ways.

The company added four new trucks and bus bays to perform regular customer servicing on those vehicles. It also added two alternative truck and bus bays to service electric and propane vehicles. The company now will be able to serve more new and existing customers logistics, warranties, and financing of vehicles.

K. Neal Truck and Bus Center installed a new vertical lift modular, which functions similarly to a modern-high tech vending machine. The unit, which can house 15,000 square feet of parts inventory, will allow the company to reduce labor costs, inventory loss, and boost storage capacity.

Further, 4,000 square feet was added to train employees along with a fitness and kitchen center to support healthy lifestyle activities for the firm’s nearly 100 workers.

In 2019, the company had revenue of roughly $98 million and expects to have slightly higher revenue in 2020.

Plus, the expansion is phase one of a three-phase construction project. The other two phases will include commercial retail space and a retail location for outside tenants covering eight acres on land surrounding the company’s headquarters. The mixed retail development will allow the company to better serve its community and help it promote economic growth in the Washington, D.C metropolitan area, which offers business growth potential and opportunities for all minorities including blacks and Hispanics.

“We recognize the importance of leading economic growth in the region,” says the younger Neal. “Transportation is the backbone of the economy that provides connections between people, goods, and services, which enables trade and growth. In fact, two of the largest school bus fleets in the United States reside in Prince George’s and Montgomery Counties.”

The nation’s largest black-owned commercial truck and bus supplier is Sun State International Trucks L.LC. The Tampa, Florida-based company ranked No. 28 on Black Enterprise’s 2019 Top 100s list with annual revenues of $148.5 million.

 

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