Get The Scoop On The Black Married Professors Calling Out LeBron James and Kevin Hart for Sports Betting

LeBron James and Kevin Hart Called Out by Finance Professor and Therapist for Promoting Predatory Finance Through Sports Gambling

Dr. Boyce Watkins, a Finance PhD and founder of The Black Business School, and his wife, Dr. Alicia Watkins, a licensed therapist and Full Professor of Social Work at the University of St. Francis in Joliet, Illinois, are publicly calling out LeBron James and Kevin Hart for promoting sports betting as entertainment — when it is rapidly becoming one of the most dangerous forms of predatory finance in modern America.

Sports gambling is exploding at an alarming rate. Legal wagers in the U.S. have surged from under $5 billion in 2017 to over $120 billion in 2023, driven largely by aggressive celebrity-backed marketing and mobile apps designed to addict users. The National Council on Problem Gambling estimates 2.5 million Americans now suffer from severe gambling addiction, with millions more at risk. Young men are being hit the hardest, and families are paying the price through debt, depression, and financial collapse.

Get The Scoop On New Book Erased On Paper Who Was Left Out of “We the People” — And Why It Still Matters 250 Years Later

Erased On Paper

Who Was Left Out of “We the People” — And Why It Still Matters 250 Years Later

In 2026, the United States will mark 250 years since its founding — a milestone that invites celebration, reflection, and national pride. Across the country, banners will fly, reenactments will unfold, speeches will praise liberty and democracy, and the familiar words of the Constitution will once again be recited with reverence.

“We the People.”

But as America prepares to commemorate its birth, a harder question deserves equal attention: Who, exactly, was included in that promise — and who was quietly left out?

The founders’ language was bold and aspirational, yet the reality of early America was far narrower. Millions of people living within the nation’s borders — enslaved Africans, Indigenous nations, women, and countless marginalized communities — were excluded from political power, legal recognition, and full citizenship.

Their labor built the economy. Their land anchored expansion. Their lives shaped the nation’s trajectory. Yet their names, rights, and identities were often missing from official records.

History books tend to frame this exclusion as a moral failing that was eventually corrected through constitutional amendments and civil rights victories. That narrative is comforting. It suggests progress resolved the problem.

The truth is more complicated.

Much of America’s erasure did not occur through violence alone. It happened quietly — through paperwork. Through census classifications that distorted identity. Through land deeds that erased rightful ownership. Through court rulings that redefined lineage. Through recordkeeping systems that valued some names while ignoring others. Over generations, these administrative decisions reshaped families, severed histories, and altered legal standing in ways still affecting Americans today.

This is precisely the question explored — and answered — by authors C.B. Deane and Venita Benitez in their manuscript Erased on Paper: How American Law Rewrote Identity and Left Us Out of “We the People.” Through legal analysis, archival research, and personal discovery, their work reveals how identity itself was rewritten not only by culture, but by law.

THE STORY OF NATIONAL FREEDOM DAY AND THE HUGUENOT LEGACY THAT LEADS TO VENITA BENITEZ

THE STORY OF NATIONAL FREEDOM DAY AND THE HUGUENOT LEGACY THAT LEADS TO VENITA BENITEZ

Founding Era, Foundational Black American and
American Descendant of Slavery

Venita Benitez Reflects On Her Legacy

National - Every year on February 1, the United States observes National Freedom Day, a national observance established by Congress and signed into law by President Harry S. Truman in 1948. The date marks the signing of the 13th Amendment, which abolished slavery and opened a new chapter in the nation’s long struggle toward liberty.

President Harry S. Truman Signing The Proclamation Establishing National Freedom Day

National Freedom Day is a moment to reflect on what freedom truly means — not as a single event, but as a journey shaped by countless individuals who fought, fled, sacrificed, and persevered so that future generations could live with dignity and choice. It honors every story of resilience, every act of courage, and every family that carried the idea of freedom forward, even when the world tried to silence them.

The Original Founder Of National Freedom Day Movement, Major Richard Robert Wright Sr. 

It is within this national context — a day dedicated to the meaning of freedom — that the story of the Chapelier – Chappelear family becomes especially powerful.

The lineage begins in the ancient Protestant stronghold of Uzès, Languedoc, where Rev. Louis Chapelier served as a minister during one of the darkest periods for French Huguenots. When the Edict of Nantes was revoked in 1685, ministers like him were targeted first. Their churches were destroyed, their families threatened, and their faith criminalized. Yet Rev. Chapelier stood firm, anchoring a family whose courage would echo across continents and centuries.

Get The Scoop On How The Original Black Wall Street Is Expanding Nationally and Inspiring Black Business

The Original Black Wall Street Expands Nationally Through Media, Advertising, and Virtual Business Address Initiative to Rebuild Black Wall Street

Tulsa, Oklahoma — A powerful movement rooted in legacy, media innovation, and economic empowerment is gaining national attention as The Original Black Wall Street expands its influence across the United States through digital radio broadcasting, national advertising opportunities, magazine publishing, and its rapidly growing Virtual Business Address program.

Founded by Dr. Angela K. Chambers, a serial entrepreneur, media executive, and community builder, The Original Black Wall Street is a multi-platform media and business ecosystem headquartered on historic Greenwood Avenue in Tulsa, Oklahoma — the original site of Black Wall Street, once one of the most prosperous Black business districts in America.

Today, the platform is helping lead a modern movement to rebuild Black Wall Street through media, entrepreneurship, and national business collaboration.

◼️A 24/7 National Radio Platform for Black Voices and Businesses

At the center of the ecosystem is The Original Black Wall Street Radio Station, a 24/7 digital broadcast platform featuring Old School R&B, talk shows, community programming, and nationally syndicated content.

The station has become a hub for meaningful conversations and cultural storytelling through shows like:

◼️Ask Angela, hosted by Dr. Angela K. Chambers

◼️Community leadership discussions

◼️Entrepreneur spotlights

◼️Nationally syndicated radio programming

Listeners can stream the station online or simply say:

“Alexa, play The Original Black Wall Street.”

The station also serves as a powerful advertising platform for businesses nationwide, helping entrepreneurs reach audiences who value community, culture, and commerce.

Get The Scoop On How The Black Health & Wealth Virtual Summit 2.0 Showcases A Dream Team Of Medical and Business Moguls

The Black Health & Wealth
Virtual Summit 2.0 Showcases a
Dream Team of Medical and
Entrepreneurial Powerhouses

Feb. 25th and Feb. 26th
7 pm - 9 pm ET

Free Reservation For 50 1st Attendees using Zoom Link  Tap Here

Or...

RSVP with Eventbrite Below for
Feb. 25th and Feb. 26th
7pm - 9pm ET

The Black Health & Wealth Virtual Summit 2.0 isn’t just another online event — it’s a strategic gathering of culture, capital, and community.  Curator Kamau Austin shares his overview "this year’s summit is already bringing together a Dream Team of medical innovators, wealth builders, business architects, and movement leaders who are flipping the script on what health and economic empowerment looks like in Black America."

"In a period when over 1.1 million Black people have lost their jobs and Black unemployment hit over 7.2 percent, since the last election cycle, the Black Health and Wealth Virtual Summit 2.0 is a timely and relevant event to jump start an economic reset in our community," adds Austin.   This year's line up of presenters for the virtual summit are impressive to say the least and state the obvious. 

On the wealth side, financier and investor Gary Smith will break down how he has helped Black communities move from being shoppers in the mall to owners of the mall — making major corporations cut the rent check to us.  Gary also has extensive experience in helping Blacks and other entrepreneurs buy and sell viable businesses.

Financier, Business & Commercial Real Estate
Investor and business broker Gary Smith 

Tech titan and multimillionaire Chuck Starks, author of Get Rich While Black!, will share how he scaled an Inc. 500 company and turned distressed properties in our communities into high-value community assets.

Self-Made Millionaire Chuck Starks

The health and innovation lane is just as powerful. Medical researcher Renee Williams is using AI to help Black women achieve better health outcomes, proving that technology can be both culturally competent, enhancing health, and life-saving.

Medical Researcher and
AI and App Innovator Renee Williams 

Afi S. Okon, MPA, founder of the American Obesity Foundation, continues to push solutions and policy conversations around one of the most urgent health crises impacting our community.  Ms. Okon is a Solutions provider with focus on wellness and community empowerment.

Afi is the Creator of Let’s Make Healthy Our New Happy, a nationwide campaign designed to reframe health as joyful, doable and family-centered journey that meet families where they are – at home, school, places of worship and in their neighborhoods. With over a decade of expertise in nonprofit leadership and deep-rooted passion for community well-being, Ms. Okon has dedicated her career to addressing health disparities through education, advocacy and empowerment.

Pierre Clark is a Harvard-trained entrepreneur and will deliver high-level strategies on creative business development and smart investments.  He is the Founder-Editor of The Entrepreneur’s Corner™, Homefree, NuFutures Development Ventures LLC, and NuMillennium Opportunity Capital Ltd.

Pierre is also a well respected writer and publisher on entrepreneurial and business operations.

From Kitchen Tables to
State Contracts:
Dr. Jamila Simon’s Blueprint for
Community-Driven Wealth

Dr. Jamila Simon, PhD, is a visionary entrepreneur, researcher, and systems strategist who operates four purpose-driven enterprises across housing education, business consulting, food innovation, and community development. As the SHEO of Radical Mama Housing, Conscious Connections Consulting, Health is Wealth Housing, and Groton Ghost Kitchen, she is building models that turn relationships into revenue and community knowledge into scalable economic power.

A Cornell University PhD in Global Development, Dr. Simon specializes in community-driven translation research — transforming kitchen-table conversations into funded programs, state contracts, and measurable impact. Her work amplifies youth voice, strengthens Black agricultural networks, and expands access to urban agriculture through her leadership as Principal Investigator for the national 4-H CYFAR LEGACY initiative.

At the Black Health & Wealth Virtual Summit 2.0, Dr. Simon will reveal how entrepreneurs and community leaders can enter new business markets using relational capital, strategic partnerships, and government contracting — creating sustainable pathways to generational wealth and community ownership.

AI Film Superstar Eric Hamilton: Directing the Future

"The Architect of AI Hollywood Joins the

Black Health & Wealth Virtual Summit 2.0 to

Break Down the Next Era of Tech, Media & Ownership"

Eric Hamilton is an award-winning AI filmmaker, technology leader, and President & Executive Producer of EHAMX Studios, a next-generation AI film company pioneering cinematic storytelling through generative artificial intelligence. With over 30 years of experience across Google, Yahoo!, Cisco, and Dow Jones, he blends executive leadership with creative innovation to redefine how stories are made and distributed.

His feature film EHAM Classified won Best Sci-Fi Film at the New York International Film Festival, and his AI-generated music work has been featured on CBS News. Through his signature “Machine-Perspective Cinema” style, Hamilton explores the intersection of artificial intelligence, culture, and human instinct—shaping the future of film in the AI era.

Checkout Eric Hamilton's Electrifying
Movie Trailer Below

Get the Scoop On Black Women Refusing to Become a Statistic (Part 1) By Renee Williams

“I Refuse to Become a Statistic (Part 1): Why Black Women Need More Than Apologies — We Need Power”

By Renee Williams

Nia Robinson is a 31-year-old coordinator in Atlanta who is done feeling powerless in the doctor’s office.

“I’m not just ‘another patient’ in a gown; I am a woman who refuses to become a statistic because a doctor wouldn’t listen.”

Her words hit even harder when we look at what’s happening in hospitals today.

Recently, more than 500 women filed a lawsuit against Chesapeake Regional Medical Center in Virginia. They say a former doctor there performed unnecessary surgeries, including hysterectomies and other major procedures, that they didn’t truly need.

One attorney called this case:

“Perhaps the single largest case involving civil rights violations of humans in our lifetime.”

Think about that.

Hundreds of women. Their bodies were cut open. Life-changing surgeries they may not have needed. All inside a system that was supposed to protect them.

This isn’t just about one bad doctor. It’s about power.

• Who has it?

• Who doesn’t?

• And what happens when we walk into exam rooms with no tools, no proof, and no backup?

The Problem: When We’re Not Heard, We Become “Cases”

Black women have carried stories of dismissal, disrespect, and danger in healthcare for generations. Now those stories are showing up in courtrooms and headlines.

The truth:

• Black women are about three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than white women.

• Our pain is more likely to be ignored, minimized, or misdiagnosed.

• Our concerns about periods, pregnancy, postpartum, and menopause are often brushed aside with “you’re fine” or “it’s in your head.”

The Chesapeake Regional case is one extreme example, but many of us know smaller — and still life-threatening — versions.

And this doesn’t just happen to women without money, status, or fame.

Season's Blessings

Merry Christmas, Kwanzaa, and Happy Holidays - Be Blessed in 2026

As we close out a powerful year of telling our stories and uplifting our communities, we’re sending love, light, and gratitude to everyone who rocked with us. ❤️🖤💚

Merry Christmas, Kwanzaa & Happy Holidays — prayerfully wishing you a Blessed, Prosperous, and Uplifting 2026 from Kamau, nZinga, & the Media Team. ✨📣