Sheltersuit: A Coat As Shelter For The Homeless [GOOD CAUSE]

Bas Timmer, A young Dutch fashion designer just out of school in 2014, Timmer was embarking on a promising direction as a cold weather-gear specialist when he stumbled over a homeless man one cold night. He thought about giving the man one of his signature fashion hoodies, but—to his lasting shame—paused for fear of diminishing his brand. A few months later a friend’s father, also homeless, died of hypothermia. “I felt guilty,” says Timmer. “I had the opportunity to help, and I did nothing.”

Timmer hasn’t entirely given up on his dreams of designing for a commercial brand. Eventually, he says, he wants to create a company as big as The North Face, but with a twist: all the profits will fund his Sheltersuit foundation. Donations alone can’t help the world’s 100 million homeless, but a globally recognized brand might. “By selling beautiful products that keep people warm and dry and protected, I can help others stay warm and dry and protected.”

The Sheltersuit is:

-Water and windproof and can be transformed easily into a sleeping bag.

-Equipped with a large hood, integrated scarf and large pockets.

-Made entirely from upcycled materials.

-Designed with an opening in the bottom to make it easier for the user to move.

-Made by former refugees who are distanced to the labour market.

-A product for people in need.

“It is a band-aid, but it’s a good band-aid. People want a house; they want a job. Until they have that, let’s at least protect them while they are on the streets.”

via Time Magazine

Coming 2 America [FILM]

Set in the lush and royal country of Zamunda, newly-crowned King Akeem (Eddie Murphy) and his trusted confidante Semmi(Arsenio Hall) embark on an all-new hilarious adventure that has them traversing the globe from their great African nation to the borough of Queens, New York – where it all began. 

Starring: Eddie Murphy, Arsenio Hall, Jermaine Fowler, Leslie Jones, Tracy Morgan, KiKi Layne, Shari Headley, with Wesley Snipes and James Earl Jones. Also starring John Amos, Teyana Taylor, Vanessa Bell Calloway, Paul Bates, Nomzamo Mbatha, Bella Murphy

Available March 5th on Prime Video.  

Screenplay by: Kenya Barris and Barry W. Blaustein & David 

Sheffield Story by: Barry W. Blaustein & David Sheffield and Justin Kanew 

Directed by: Craig Brewer 

Based on characters created by: Eddie Murphy 

Produced by: Kevin Misher and Eddie Murphy 

Costumes by: Ruth E. Carter.

Detroit Piston Owner Tom Gores Prison Telecom Business Tarnishes The NBA [PETITION]

An advocacy group took out a full-page advertisement in Sunday's New York Times, calling on the NBA and 30 of its owners to force Detroit Pistons owner Tom Gores to sell his team because of his ownership of a prison telecom company.

"If Black Lives Matter, what are you doing about Detroit Pistons owner Tom Gores?" the advertisement read.

The advertisement refers readers to http://pistonsdeservebetter.com that says how Gores' ownership of Securus Technologies, which his Beverly Hills-based private equity firm Platinum Equity purchased in 2017, "undermines [the NBA's] sincerity" about its stance on social and racial justice issues. Securus helps to set the pricing for phone calls for jailed inmates in hundreds of counties nationwide, in some cases charging more than $14 for a 15-minute call.

via ESPN

Cannabis May Reduce Deadly COVID-19 Symptoms [MEDICINE]

As COVID-19 cases continue to rise, researchers have started to look for solutions in an unlikely place - the cannabis plant. Cannabis’ active compounds have a number of properties that make it appealing as a potential adjunct treatment for infections from the novel coronavirus, and recently scientists have begun looking at its potential for reducing susceptibility to the disease, and even discussed whether it could be used as an antiviral medication. 

Researchers in Canada have conducted a study suggesting that novel Cannabis sativaextracts may decrease levels of the host cell receptor that severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) uses to gain viral entry to target tissues.  

“If these results are further confirmed, these high-CBD cannabis extracts can be used to develop prevention strategies directed at lowering ACE2 levels in high-risk gateway tissues,” they write.  

“The extracts of our most successful novel high-CBD C. sativa lines, pending further investigation, may become a useful and safe addition to the prevention and treatment of COVID-19 as an adjunct therapy,” concludes the team.

via News Medical

Reebok Can Be Sold To Master P And Baron Davis [BUSINESS]

Reebok may be getting a new owner, as its German sportswear parent company Adidas looks to offload the household name brand. Once a cultural icon of epic proportions, Reebok has struggled in recent years to gain a foothold with today’s trendsetters and tastemakers. This could be changing as new buyers including a business dream team of hip-hop business mogul, Percy “Master P” Miller and former NBA All-Star Baron Davis are looking to acquire the company and bring Soulja Slim's legacy to a whole new level, and could garner an asking price of around $2.4 billion. Is it time for the culture to take ownership of some of the products it helped to cultivate? 

Remember that sneakers by rappers like Kanye West, Drake and Pharrell with companies including Nike and Adidas have created a consumer frenzy, as these influencers dictate business and trends. Cultural endorsers have basically usurped athletes as the go-to tastemakers in the sneaker industry. Hip hop artists have gone from subtle co-signers who helped start grassroots movements, to indirect ad men, to power brokers. Reebok’s latest cultural influencers to head up its roster include rap sensations Cardi B and Kendrick Lamar.

via Forbes

The Future Of Live Music [CONCERTS]

While the timing of live music’s return remains uncertain, Ticketmaster has already begun reimagining the future of concert safety. 

Billboard Magazine has reported exclusively that the ticketing juggernaut, which shares ownership with Live Nation — the world’s leading concert promoter — is discussing plans that would require patrons to provide either proof of a COVID-19 vaccination or a recent negative COVID-19 test to gain entry to a concert. This would be done through a combination of third-party entities: A fan would need to request that its vaccine or test provider send their results to a health pass provider, such as CLEAR Health Pass or IBM’s Digital Health Pass, who would then verify the results to Ticketmaster, who would not store or have access to customers’ medical records, Billboard said. In lieu of a vaccine, a negative test would need to be produced approximately 24 to 72 hours before the event, according to the plan, which remains in developmental stages.

Because Ticketmaster tickets the vast majority of sports leagues in the United States, as well as concert venues and Live Nation owned properties, the implementation of their COVID-19 plan will be an important milestone for the live entertainment industry.

Read more here.

What Are Artists For? Merrill C. Berman Collection: MoMA [ART]

John Heartfield's The Hand Has Five Fingers (1928), a campaign poster for German Communist Party 

The Museum of Modern Art, New York. The Merrill C. Berman Collection

“The title ‘artist’ is an insult,” the German Communists George Grosz and John Heartfield declared in 1920. Grosz subsided into satirical painting and drawing, but Heartfield became a dedicated propagandist who cast Hitler as a puppet of capitalism and savaged centrist opposition to the tyrant’s rise. The cover of the show’s catalogue features Heartfield’s photograph of a worker’s soiled, forward-grasping hand, which was used for a poster promoting the Communist Party in a Weimar election in 1928. The image seems rather more menacing than rallying. It is at an extreme of the era’s politically weaponized design, which generally took less inflammatory forms in Germany and other European democracies. These countries incubated movements that are well represented in the exhibition but tangential to its Russian focus—Futurism, Dada, the Bauhaus. In Russia, there was no partisan campaigning because there was only one party. After 1917, it won the ardent allegiance of a generation of creative types who reconceived of the artist as a self-abnegating servant of the masses and the state—or who professed to, whatever their private misgivings. 

What is an artist, anyway? moma’s show stalks the question. The works on paper from the Merrill C. Berman Collection include designs for Communist posters and salad oil advertisements

Read more over at The New Yorker

Square May Acquire Jay-Z’s Tidal Streaming Service [TECH]

Square Inc., the digital-payment company run by Jack Dorsey, has held talks to acquire the music-streaming service Tidal as part of a push to diversify, according to a person familiar with the situation.

Dorsey has discussed a potential deal with Jay-Z, the rapper and music mogul who acquired Tidal for $56 million in early 2015, said the person, who asked not to be identified because the talks were private. The negotiations may not result in a transaction.

Square declined to comment, while Tidal didn’t respond to requests for comment.

via Bloomberg

6 Things You Need to Know About Gen C [SOCIETY]

Being able to identify different groups of people is extremely convenient. Knowing their habits and demographics, makes it easier to hire them as employees, and sell them products as consumers. If you are still focusing on only Baby boomers and Millennials, you’re missing out on the biggest group of all – Generation C.

Knowing what makes Generation C different, will make sure you are able to appeal to the traits that define them.

1. Introducing Generation C

Generation C is a uniquely defined group that gathers together all those who are “connected consumers”.  While this label seems to indicate that Generation C falls within the same parameters we use to define Millennials, ‘Gen C’ is not bound by age. It is a psychographic (as opposed to a demographic) group that is bound by values, interests, personality traits, attitudes, and lifestyles.

Members of Generation C are “digital natives” who have integrated technology into every aspect of their daily routine. They turn to the internet instinctively and extensively to do any number of things.

2. Age doesn’t matter to Generation C

Generation C isn’t about an age bracket, it’s about a mindset. You can be 12 years old, or 105 years old, and still be part of this group. It is not defined by age, wealth, geography, nor ethnicity. It is defined solely by connectivity.

Its members are not just consuming content – they are creating it. They are not just online – they are actively engaged with online communities. And though these traits may apply to the Millennial demographic, it is Generation C who actually embodies them by being fully immersed in content creation, social networks, online videos, product review sites, smart technology, etc.

3. They interact with the world digitally

Generation C lives in a digital world and gives little to no attention to traditional media like tv, radio, and print. They move from smart phone to laptop to tablet seamlessly, and are often found using multiple devices at once. They are connected from the moment they wake up to the moment they go to sleep. If they wear a Fitbit or have smart mattress, they may even be connected while asleep.

Generation C stays up to date on current events through videos, apps, and social media sites like Twitter. Their decision making is often based on review sites and online opinion. They never truly disconnect.

4. They are growing

In 2012, when digital analyst Brian Solis defined Generation C, they were still a small group, despite being not bound by an age demographic. However, with recent developments in mobile technology and high-speed internet access, this group is getting exponentially larger.

5. Attract their attention

Above all else, Generation C trusts content shared within their own personal networks.  They trust a post that Bob shared about XYZ company more than they trust the actual post from XYZ company. Shared content is the holy grail for reaching Generation C. If you are trying to attract their attention, you should be where they are – online.

As a company, you need to be heavily investing in your company’s online presence. Start by leveraging your employees who love the work you do; allow them to share positive, relevant messages on both their private social media pages, and your corporate pages. Make sure all your open positions are posted in online job boards, as well as your own website.

Create value in the content you create – you want it to be something that people want to click on and share. Make sure it provides help and assistance instead of just asking for business.

6. Stay up to date 

Attracting and keeping Generation C is not only about having a carefully curated online message, it is also about the technology your company uses. If you are rolling out a new training program, make sure to incorporate mobile and digital options. Make sure that any online tools and/or technology you use actually works. You don’t need to be cutting edge, but no one wants to be working in MS-DOS.

Are you ready?

In reality, Generation C is everywhere. The push for connectivity has cut across all traditional demographics. Age is becoming an arbitrary factor in defining a specific group of people. Make sure that you are factoring this information into your business decisions and discussions. Open yourself up to reaching more people by leveraging this knowledge.

via Energy Resources

How the COVID-19 Pandemic Will End? [OP-ED]

Rudderless, blindsided, lethargic, uncoordinated?

A mishandled the COVID-19 crisis is substantially worse than what every health expert feared. “Much worse,” said Ron Klain, who coordinated the U.S. response to the West African Ebola outbreak in 2014. “Beyond any expectations we had,” said Lauren Sauer, who works on disaster preparedness at Johns Hopkins Medicine. “As an American, I’m horrified,” said Seth Berkley, who heads Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. “The U.S. may end up with the worst outbreak in the industrialized world.”

Even a perfect response won’t end the pandemic. As long as the virus persists somewhere, there’s a chance that one infected traveler will reignite fresh sparks in countries that have already extinguished their fires. This is already happening in China, Singapore, and other Asian countries that briefly seemed to have the virus under control. Under these conditions, there are three possible endgames: one that’s very unlikely, one that’s very dangerous, and one that’s very long.

It’s likely, then, that the new coronavirus will be a lingering part of American life for at least a year, if not much longer. If the current round of social-distancing measures works, the pandemic may ebb enough for things to return to a semblance of normalcy. Offices could fill and bars could bustle. Schools could reopen and friends could reunite. But as the status quo returns, so too will the virus. This doesn’t mean that society must be on continuous lockdown until 2022. But “we need to be prepared to do multiple periods of social distancing,” says Stephen Kissler of Harvard.

Second: duration of immunity. When people are infected by the milder human coronaviruses that cause cold-like symptoms, they remain immune for less than a year. By contrast, the few who were infected by the original SARS virus, which was far more severe, stayed immune for much longer. Assuming that SARS-CoV-2 lies somewhere in the middle, people who recover from their encounters might be protected for a couple of years. To confirm that, scientists will need to develop accurate serological tests, which look for the antibodies that confer immunity. They’ll also need to confirm that such antibodies actually stop people from catching or spreading the virus. If so, immune citizens can return to work, care for the vulnerable, and anchor the economy during bouts of social distancing.

After infections begin ebbing, a secondary pandemic of mental-health problems will follow. At a moment of profound dread and uncertainty, people are being cut off from soothing human contact. Hugs, handshakes, and other social rituals are now tinged with danger. People with anxiety or obsessive-compulsive disorder are struggling. Elderly people, who are already excluded from much of public life, are being asked to distance themselves even further, deepening their loneliness. Asian people are suffering racist insults, fueled by a president who insists on labeling the new coronavirus the “Chinese virus.” Incidents of domestic violence and child abuse are likely to spike as people are forced to stay in unsafe homes. Children, whose bodies are mostly spared by the virus, may endure mental trauma that stays with them into adulthood.

After the pandemic, people who recover from COVID-19 might be shunned and stigmatized, as were survivors of Ebola, SARS, and HIV. Health-care workers will take time to heal: One to two years after SARS hit Toronto, people who dealt with the outbreak were still less productive and more likely to be experiencing burnout and post-traumatic stress. People who went through long bouts of quarantine will carry the scars of their experience. “My colleagues in Wuhan note that some people there now refuse to leave their homes and have developed agoraphobia,” says Steven Taylor of the University of British Columbia, who wrote The Psychology of Pandemics.

Pandemics can also catalyze social change. People, businesses, and institutions have been remarkably quick to adopt or call for practices that they might once have dragged their heels on, including working from home, conference-calling to accommodate people with disabilities, proper sick leave, and flexible child-care arrangements. “This is the first time in my lifetime that I’ve heard someone say, ‘Oh, if you’re sick, stay home,’” says Adia Benton, an anthropologist at Northwestern University. Perhaps the nation will learn that preparedness isn’t just about masks, vaccines, and tests, but also about fair labor policies and a stable and equal health-care system. Perhaps it will appreciate that health-care workers and public-health specialists compose America’s social immune system, and that this system has been suppressed.

Aspects of America’s identity may need rethinking after COVID-19. Many of the country’s values have seemed to work against it during the pandemic. Its individualism, exceptionalism, and tendency to equate doing whatever you want with an act of resistance meant that when it came time to save lives and stay indoors, some people flocked to bars and clubs. Having internalized years of anti-terrorism messaging following 9/11, Americans resolved to not live in fear. But SARS-CoV-2 has no interest in their terror, only their cells.

The other major epidemics of recent decades either barely affected the U.S. (SARS, MERS, Ebola), were milder than expected (H1N1 flu in 2009), or were mostly limited to specific groups of people (Zika, HIV). The COVID-19 pandemic, by contrast, is affecting everyone directly, changing the nature of their everyday life. That distinguishes it not only from other diseases, but also from the other systemic challenges of our time. When an administration prevaricates on climate change, the effects won’t be felt for years, and even then will be hard to parse. It’s different when a president says that everyone can get a test, and one day later, everyone cannot. Pandemics are democratizing experiences. People whose privilege and power would normally shield them from a crisis are facing quarantines, testing positive, and losing loved ones. Senators are falling sick. The consequences of defunding public-health agencies, losing expertise, and stretching hospitals are no longer manifesting as angry opinion pieces, but as faltering lungs.

The lessons that America draws from this experience are hard to predict, especially at a time when online algorithms and partisan broadcasters only serve news that aligns with their audience’s preconceptions. Such dynamics will be pivotal in the coming months, says Ilan Goldenberg, a foreign-policy expert at the Center for a New American Security. “The transitions after World War II or 9/11 were not about a bunch of new ideas,” he says. “The ideas are out there, but the debates will be more acute over the next few months because of the fluidity of the moment and willingness of the American public to accept big, massive changes.”

One could also envisage a future in which America learns a different lesson. A communal spirit, ironically born through social distancing, causes people to turn outward, to neighbors both foreign and domestic. The election of November 2020 becomes a repudiation of “America first” politics. The nation pivots, as it did after World War II, from isolationism to international cooperation. Buoyed by steady investments and an influx of the brightest minds, the health-care workforce surges. Gen C kids write school essays about growing up to be epidemiologists. Public health becomes the centerpiece of foreign policy. The U.S. leads a new global partnership focused on solving challenges like pandemics and climate change.

In 2030, SARS-CoV-3 emerges from nowhere, and is brought to heel within a month.

Read the full editorial here.

via The Atlantic

Kennedy Rd. - Still Luv EP [MUSIC]

Kennedy Rd. makes her return with a new EP titled “Still Luv”.

Playing off the title of her 2019 Valentine’s Day debut “Good Luv”, Kennedy Rd. leads the project with her single ‘Afraid Of‘ which she premiered in May already surpassing 250K streams.  Its very clear that the Toronto artist is ready to go up as she oozes with soul across the seven songs starting off with an intro titled ‘Nighttime in Toronto’ which transitions into the title track.

With the 90’s imputed in the fabric of her artistry, she releases stirring lyrics with warmth in her naturally soft vocals with relatable stories and experiences across slow-tempo’s even mixing in some lyrics en Francais.  Producer ‘itsashleetho’ shows up on the title track as well as the conclusion and standout single ‘Give U Luv’ which has Kennedy experiencing unconditional love as she gives all of her soul, heart and love away.

A great project that will undoubtedly resonate with fans of today and the golden era of R&B. Available on all streaming platforms now.

via Music Group

Black-Owned Distilleries to Buy From Right Now [BUSINESS]

Looking for a new whisky or tequila to add to your bar cart, while also supporting African-American businesses? While you might be quick to head to the Scottish or Mexican aisle at your local liquor store to stock up on summer sips, dismissing American-made bottles would be doing yourself a major disservice, and these premium labels are proof of that. This selection highlights some of the best Black-owned distilleries across the country making bottles you’ll definitely want to savor. From traditional Tennessee whiskey to gin and vodka made in the middle of Miami, these American spirits are churning out some of the tastiest pours in the nation. 

via MAXIM Magazine

Nike NOCTA Apparel Collection [FASHION]

NOCTA, a collection for the collective, has arrived. The form fitting apparel nods to sport, but is rooted and inspired by those who roam the streets, who are on the go and want functional, comfortable and elevated everyday essentials.

The timeless silhouettes and style lines mirror Nike's evolution through the years. For this drop, an aggressive and distinct Black and University Gold color palette makes a striking first impression. A mix of functional and cosmetic details, like reflective piping and beveled swooshes throughout the collection, add subtle yet distinctive details that compliment each other. Each piece is marked with the symbols of NOCTA and the spirit of the night.

Visit NOCTA for more info.