As an immigrant from Ethiopia, Washington, D.C., businessman Yimaj “Steve” Kalifa is living the American Dream, having built a personal wealth estimated at $100 million. Now at a time when COVID-19 has struck nearly 38,000 residents of the District and killed more than 900, Kalifa is paying back to the community that helped him build his fortune. At the urging of a friend with connections to Mayor Muriel Bowser’s office, one of Kalifa’s companies, Capital Medical Supply Inc., donated 30,000 pieces of personal protection equipment to a Howard University virus testing center. The friend was Armstrong Williams, political commentator and…
Author: Tn Tribune
The Chinese video app TikTok has exploded in popularity since the pandemic began. With hours of extra time on their hands, many users have turned to the app for diversion, recording 60-second dances to tracks by their favorite artists. Others have used it as a form of expression, whether to vent or to perform music of their own. New York’s Baby Storme at first found TikTok to be somewhat of an escape from real life. It was a place where she was unknown and so could be herself. What she didn’t anticipate was using the app to launch a career.…
In the late ’80s and early ’90s, Christian Okoye punished defenses while playing running back for the Kansas City Chiefs. Teammate Irv Eatman appropriately labeled him “The Nigerian Nightmare” — a nickname that rang true for opposing defenses. Okoye was a big back who could run around you or through you; he led the NFL in rushing yards in 1989. He was hard to bring down, and seldom was he tackled by a single defender. Breaking arm tackles while scurrying into the end zone became his forte. The Nigerian-born Okoye didn’t pick up the sport until he was in college,…
WASHINGTON, D.C. — It all started because she wanted to claim her seat at the table. Deryl McKissack had worked hard in the construction business for years but was always told to put her head down, work harder and not ask any questions. When her new boss wanted to demote her simply because she was a woman, McKissack said, “I quit.” With a thousand dollars and a business plan drafted using a book purchased at Barnes & Noble, she launched McKissack & McKissack. “I just think it was my passion that got me through, and my determination of, I’m just…
Despite rising demand for cultured meat and other cellular agriculture products, scaling up production and gaining public acceptance remain challenges, according to industry experts. Cellular agriculture refers to the bio-technology — such as tissue engineering and synthetic biology — to create products that would otherwise be produced using traditional agriculture methods. In the case of cultured meat, products are creating using in vitro cultivation of animal cells, rather than the meat of slaughtered animals. Globally, cultured meat products have quickly risen in popularity over the last several years. The global cultured meat market accounted for $72.6 million in 2018 and…
Pro Football Hall of Famer Deion “Prime Time” Sanders learned the value of movement after purchasing his first “iced out” Rolex in his rookie season with the Atlanta Falcons. His multi-diamond timepiece wasn’t working properly — or so he thought, until the jeweler told him to move his arm. “The Rolex works off movement,” Sanders quipped during the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) Spring Football Virtual Media Days in mid-January. “I go on movement. Whenever I’m idle, I lose energy. I’m a mover and shaker who makes things happen, and that’s how my life has always been. That’s what makes me…
RICHMOND, Va. — As fencing is set to be installed Jan. 25 around the 130-year-old Robert E. Lee monument in Richmond, Va., in preparation for its removal, the monument itself has become an unlikely symbol of hope and persistence for many in the surrounding communities. Gov. Ralph S. Northam ordered the removal of the Confederate general’s memorial in June 2020, but it has been delayed by legal action from local residents who want it to remain. The 60-foot, 12-ton statue on Monument Avenue is covered in graffiti, applied and reapplied multiple times since June’s Black Lives Matter protests. Queen, 32,…
In It didn’t take long for Shakur Stevenson to show the world his talent in the boxing ring. As an amateur, he won a silver medal in the bantamweight division at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. As a pro, he established himself as one of boxing’s future stars, showcasing an abundance of skills along with superstar qualities. Stevenson won the WBO featherweight (126 pounds) title in just his 13th professional fight, cruising to a dominant unanimous decision victory over Joet Gonzalez, who had been undefeated through 23 professional fights. After securing the featherweight title, Stevenson moved up…
It was a mission she knew she might not survive. Still, in March 1944, a young Jewish immigrant to Palestine named Hannah Senesh (Anna Szenes) parachuted into occupied Slovenia on behalf of the British Army. The goals were twofold — to help Allied pilots who had fallen behind enemy lines flee to safety and to work with partisan forces to rescue Jewish communities under Nazi occupation. Senesh was captured by the Hungarian police on June 7, tortured for months, and executed on November 7. She was only 23. Hannah Senesh’s immigration certificate, 1939. (National Library of Israel)A year later, a…
The holiday gift that keeps teenagers on the sofa with game controllers in their hands may help parents pay their college tuition. For some, training to compete in cyberspace contests like Fortnite and NBA2K could soon replace training for team sports — and create a new scholarship pipeline and professional opportunities after graduation. Gaming and esports are becoming sources of camaraderie and competition for students at HBCUs. Three of the four HBCU athletic conferences have corporate partnerships with developers of gaming platforms that allow students to compete against on-campus peers as well as students at schools in their conferences. And…