Black Business Women Online

More African American Women Connecting Online For Business Building

The growth of one online community for Black women professionals supports research that women are the fastest growing entrepreneurs.

Columbus, OH (PRWEB) August 26, 2008 -- Research studies continue to indicate that Black women are one of the fastest growing groups of entrepreneurs and business owners. Not only that, they are also more likely to survive their first 5 years in business than many other groups.

Such tenacity is reflected in the continuous growth of the recently launched BlackWomenConnect.com -- the largest social network for professional African American women. Free to join, this unique online community has thousands of active members that use the site as a central point for business networking, career building, and professional unity.
The functionality of BlackWomenConnect.com is similar to that of LinkedIn, FaceBook, Plaxo, and others. Users can meet and interact with each other, post news and blogs, upload videos, promote their upcoming events, and even participate in forums.

"This is the only site that allows women entrepreneurs to interact with each other as if they were in the same room. Women are on there as we speak, closing deals and making transactions," says Dante Lee, co-founder of the site. "There is no other space online like this for this group."

The site, along with many others, is produced by Lee Moss Media, a joint venture between Dante Lee of Diversity City Media and William Moss of HBCU Connect. The two are on a mission to build the largest network of premium African American web sites.

For more details and/or to join the site for free, visit:http://www.BlackWomenConnect.com

Seriously, TVOne, WTH??

How does this make sense? This election is about shattering stereotypes. How does a group of black journalists and social commentators, doing the snake down the red carpet, support that endeavor??

Come on now, people..

So saddened by this loss

'Incalculable loss' _ US Rep. Tubbs Jones mourned

By M.R. KROPKO – 4 hours ago

EAST CLEVELAND, Ohio (AP) — Tributes from political allies and even one-time enemies came pouring in for Democratic U.S. Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones, a trailblazer whose energy and outspokenness made her one of Congress' most dynamic leaders.

Tubbs Jones, the first black woman to represent Ohio in Congress, died Wednesday evening after suffering a brain hemorrhage caused by a ruptured aneurysm. She was 58.

"She poured her heart and soul into her job," said U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio. "She worked so hard and gave everything she could. I'm devastated. Wherever we'd go, we'd speak of each other as brother and sister. It's an incalculable loss."

Tubbs Jones represented Ohio's heavily Democratic 11th District for five terms. She was the first black woman to serve on the powerful House Ways and Means Committee and the first to serve as a common pleas judge in Ohio.

The congresswoman suffered the hemorrhage while driving her car in suburban Cleveland Heights on Tuesday night. She had been driving erratically and her vehicle crossed lanes of traffic before coming to a stop, police said. An officer found her.

An aneurysm is a dangerous weakness or bulge in a blood vessel that can leak or rupture, causing bleeding. In Tubbs Jones, the aneurysm burst in an inaccessible part of her brain, said Dr. Gus Kious, president of Huron Hospital in East Cleveland where Tubbs Jones died. Several news organizations, including The Associated Press, incorrectly announced her death about four hours before she died.

Tubbs Jones, who chaired the House Ethics Committee, was a passionate opponent of the war in Iraq, voting in 2002 against authorizing the use of military force. Just as the war was starting in March 2003, she was one of only 11 House members to oppose a resolution supporting U.S. troops in Iraq.

"I am going to miss her as a friend and colleague, and her leadership will most certainly be missed by her constituents, northeast Ohio and the state as a whole," said Republican Sen. George Voinovich of Ohio.

She was one of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's biggest boosters during the primaries and was to have been a superdelegate at next week's Democratic National Convention in Denver.
She switched her backing to Sen. Barack Obama in June, but said he could not win unless Clinton's supporters rallied behind him. She also said Obama should consider Clinton as a running mate.

The Clinton family released a statement saying Tubbs Jones was a "one-woman force for progress in our country" and that they shared a friendship with her that "deepened through every trial and challenge."

"Over the course of many years, with many ups and many downs, Stephanie was right by our side — unwavering, indefatigable," the statement said.

Obama called Tubbs Jones "an extraordinary American and an outstanding public servant."
"It wasn't enough for her just to break barriers in her own life. She was also determined to bring opportunity to all those who had been overlooked and left behind — and in Stephanie, they had a fearless friend and unyielding advocate," Obama said in a statement.

On the Ways and Means Committee, Tubbs Jones opposed President Bush's tax cuts and his efforts to create personal accounts within Social Security. In 2005, she opposed certifying his re-election because of questionable electoral results in her home state.

"She was an effective legislator who was dedicated to helping small businesses, improving local schools, expanding job opportunities for Ohioans, and ensuring that more of them have access to health care," Bush said Wednesday. "Our nation is grateful for her service."

Tubbs Jones grew up in a working-class area of Cleveland, the youngest of three girls. Her father, Andrew Tubbs, was a skycap for United Airlines at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport. Her mother, Mary, was a homemaker and later a factory worker.

Tubbs Jones studied sociology at Case Western Reserve University on a full scholarship that she attributed to affirmative action efforts.

After graduating, she worked for the city sewer district and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Tubbs Jones also served as a Cuyahoga County Common Pleas judge and prosecutor before running for political office.

Former U.S. Rep. Louis Stokes made Tubbs Jones his hand-picked successor in 1998.
"I wanted somebody whom I felt could carry on what I tried to do for 30 years in that congressional district," Stokes said. "She did it. She took it to a higher level, a new level. She made me so proud."

Associated Press writer Andrew Taylor in Washington contributed to this report.

Blacks in movies

Jasmyne Cannick has written a story on an upcoming movie release that I find interesting.

I agree with some of Jasmyne's viewpoints and disagree with others. I agree with her that Hollywood couldn't give two shakes about the history of blackface or how Robert Downey Jr's portrayal will affect us as black women (and black people in general). But she states that "there won’t be any movies opening anytime soon that poke fun at or mimic their experience or their people." Um, Jas, have you seen Blond and Blonder??

She also says "when it comes to Hollywood, the history of Black people in this country, and our image as a people, it’s like, “how much money do you need and how fast can you get the film done?” I would be on my high horse, and ready to protest Tropic Thunder similarly, if it weren't for the fact that black people support coonery also. How many black people saw Soul Plane, The Nutty Professor, Meet the Klumps, Norbitt, etc? Those movies aren't being remade because black people boycott them, or they don't make money. Yes, theoretically, those types of movies could still be financial boons because of white audiences... but if there were no black support and a collective boycott against them, then they wouldn't fly. Hollywood doesn't care about political issues, racial sensitivity or women's rights -- it cares about box office sales. So if we want to see better, then we should do better.

I also look at Cannick's opinions as flawed, because this analysis was sparked by negative images of a 'black' man. How loud is the silence, when, black women are denigrated in film? How loud is the silence, when, roles that should be played by black women are given to women of other races? Yet it only seems to matter when black men are slighted. I take issue with the perception that the image of the black man is the image of black America. While I'm black, my issues, my image and the stereotypes surrounding my experience are uniquely different from that of the black man. We have shared experiences based on skin color, but brothas don't know what its like to be a woman or to be discriminated against because of your skin shade or hair texture (and the fact that its mostly black men perpetuating colorism, but I won't go there today). And the fact remains that black men are working to destroy their own images -- by having children out of wedlock, my committing black-on-black crime, and by selling drugs. Those are things that don't need blackface to make them look bad.

Cannick ends by saying:

If you still want to see Tropic Thunder, might I suggest a trip to your local
neighborhood swapmeet, where more often than not there’ll be a brother out front
ready to sell you a copy of Tropic Thunder for the ultra low price of $5.
I mean I figure if Robert Downey Jr. is going to get paid for a role that could
have easily been given to a Black actor, somebody Black ought to get paid, so
why not your local bootlegger. I’m just saying it’s a good way to stick it
to the industry and help a brotha out.

I can't condone protesting a movie by supporting illegal activities. How about we not go see the movie, period? Or, we tell 1-2 white coworkers why this movie stinks. Or, start a letter-writing campaign to Dreamworks execs, or or or.. but 'helping a brotha out' isn't really going to get us anywhere. Because, truth be told, ignorance is already bootlegged, and the movie studios are still getting paid. How about we start putting our money where our mouths are, and try to effect positive change in the film industry.

Black Women Are Beautiful

I feel like I am in an eye of a hurricane. Lately I've been browsing news stories about black women and girls to post to this blog. It seems like everything I come across is negative: black women have these ailments, this marriage rate, this rate of higher education, etc. I've been hesitant to post about any of it, because I know we've 'heard it all before'. That's not to say that these statistics aren't newsworthy; they are. But today I choose not to perpetuate their discussion.

We as black women in America have so many positive aspects at work in our favor - regardless of what the media tells us. The title of this post is 'Black Women Are Beautiful', and we are. I know I repeat that sentiment alot, but I really and truly believe that. At the core of this statement is a belief in the value, worthiness and substance of our beings. I don't feel that most of us know our worth, celebrate who we are or do enough to uplift our fellow sisters. Quite frankly, sometimes that's hard to do. Between your 9-5, family commitments, just trying to make ends meet, it can be difficult to squeeze together moments of bliss. But if we can just grab one moment for ourselves, on a daily basis, I think that we will improve our inner beings as well as those we touch. In my personal spiritual life, finding happiness is a priority I continually strive for. I'm not advocating that you follow my path, but I am promoting that we take better care of our minds, bodies, children, and those we love. That we step back a moment from what people want us to be, and we embrace the desires that we want for ourselves.

Like I said, I know that's not always easy.. but it is a worthwhile endeavor nonetheless. And we definitely deserve it, each and every one of us.

My condolences

(CNN) -- Comic actor Bernie Mac died early Saturday of complications from pneumonia, according to a family member and his publicist. He was 50.

Bernie Mac, 50, had been hospitalized in his hometown, Chicago, with pneumonia.

He had been hospitalized in Chicago, Illinois, for more than a week with the lung infection.

Danica Smith, the comedian's publicist, had said Thursday that Mac's condition was "stable," The Associated Press reported.

"When I got the call this morning, it was just devastating news," said Chicago Sun-Times columnist Stella Foster. "Let's face it: Bernie Mac was one of a kind. He was the best of the best in terms of giving you a good laugh."

Smith previously said the pneumonia wasn't related to sarcoidosis, a lung disease Mac had, which had been in remission since 2005, according to AP.

Mac caused a stir in July with some jokes he made during a fundraiser for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, AP reported.

Mac -- born Bernard Jeffrey McCollough -- starred in the Fox television series "The Bernie Mac Show." His film roles included the "Ocean's Eleven" series, "Friday," "Get on the Bus," "Transformers" and "Bad Santa."

*****

My condolences to the McCullough family; Mac will truly be missed.

It pisses me off too, girl!

I agreed with alot of what Monica said.. why is being Black an issue? Why must it be examined? Its not a disease, cultural phenomena or monolith. We are colored the same (or similarly) but we have a myriad of experiences.