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In an interview with CNBC, America’s first black billionaire and the founder of BET, Robert L. Johnson weighed in on what he sees as problems with the Democratic Party.

“The party in my opinion, for me personally, has moved too far to the left,” he said an interview on the network. “And for that reason, I don’t have a particular candidate (I’m supporting) in the party at this time. I think at the end of the day, if a Democrat is going to beat Trump, then that person, he or she, will have to move to the center and you can’t wait too long to do that.”

In the interview, Bob Johnson described himself as a “long-time centrist and Democrat,” who supported Hilary Clinton in 2016. He also urged people after Trump’s election to give the new president “a shot” and “the benefit of the doubt.”

Johnson also said that the economy was currently “doing great” and that he gives President Trump “a lot of credit for moving the economy in a positive direction that’s benefiting a large amount of Americans.”

Currently, Johnson is the founder and chairman of The RLJ Cos., a portfolio of companies with holdings in several industries, including the RLJ McLarty Landers Holdings L.L.C., the highest-earning black-owned auto company with revenues of $1.8 billion and ranked No.1 on the 2019 BE Auto 40 list of the nation’s largest black-owned businesses, Black Enterprise‘s annual “BE100s” list.

In 2000, he sold Black Entertainment Television, a company he launched in 1979, for $3 billion to media giant Viacom, which made him the nation’s first black billionaire. Under Johnson’s ownership, BET became the first black-owned company on the New York Stock Exchange.

Since selling BET, he has invested in other business ventures. He showed his proficiency as a serial entrepreneur when he paid $300 million in 2003 to acquire the National Basketball Association’s Charlotte Bobcats expansion team. The transaction was huge as it made Johnson the first black majority owner of a major professional sports team.

Johnson’s deal shattered ownership barriers when it came to a black businessman operating in that realm, though at the time, the NBA had a player base that was roughly 80% black. He sold most of his shares of the team to Michael Jordan in 2010.

Last year, Johnson said he was racially profiled at a 5-star luxury hotel in West Palm Beach.

The Lion King roars back into cinemas on July 19th–this time painstakingly brought to life by Iron Man, Chef, and Jungle Book maestro, Jon Favreau. Are we feeling the love tonight? Or is this one stuck in the elephant graveyard? Find out by watching our NOC’s review of the movie here:

Written by: Mercedes Jackson

OWN’s original scripted series include popular dramas like Queen Sugar, Greenleaf, Ambitions, The Haves and the Have Nots, If Loving You is Wrong, and the upcoming drama series David Makes Man. BGN was able to sit down with some of the cast members from some of our favorite shows during Essence Festival like Greenleaf, Queen Sugar, Ambitions, and Iyanla: Fix My Life.

 The Greenleaf family and their sprawling Memphis megachurch, where scandalous secrets and lies are as numerous as the faithful. Born of the church, the Greenleaf family love and care for each other, but beneath the surface lies a den of iniquity greed, adultery, sibling rivalry and conflicting values that threatens to tear apart the very core of their faith that holds them together.

When talking with the cast of the Greenleaf about the show touching on subjects that happen in the church that most people don’t speak about — Lynn Whitfield who plays Lucky Mae Greenleaf — says, “If we don’t touch on difficult subjects you all won’t tune in.” She says sometimes the cast might get a script two weeks before and she sometimes says, “Oh my God are we going to go there, we are really pushing the envelope”. The cast loves how the audience can possibly see a piece of themselves in at least one character on the show. When asked what church in Memphis the show based on, Whitfield says it’s not based on one specific church “but all churches”. Whitfield adds, “All of our movement and progress comes from the church”.

Iyanla: Fix My Life is one of the many reality shows on the OWN network. Vanzant helps people fix their lives using her past to help others’ futures. Secrets get revealed, truths get uncovered and emotions come out as Vanzant teaches people how to pull back the curtain on what is broken in their lives.

If you have seen the show, you know it’s very emotional and heavy. When asked about social media, Vanzant she says it hurts her feelings that the blogs reposted a video of her singing by a pole and people were saying she was intoxicated. Vanzant says “I go back and forth with people on there and I don’t like that”. She also mentions people need to understand that we just want to have fun. When asked can you talk about how we have lost laughter for healing, she says “You have to laugh and just have fun. Find what brings you joy, for me — shopping brings me joy.” She also added some feedback about her experience at the Essence Festival every year. “I go to the convention center and get the fried lobster tail every year. I also zip through the aisles and go to my favorite vendors”

In Queen Sugar’s fourth season, the Bordelons find themselves continuing their fight to save their family farm and father’s legacy as they navigate their own personal journeys. 

Omar Dorsey plays Hollywood Desonier, and discusses how his character has made him change in his real life. Dorsey says “Not only is Hollywood a provider, he is supportive. He has dealt with an ex-wife that had mental issues and now he’s dealing with a wife that has health issues.” Dorsey shares, “In a way me and Hollywood are the same person”. 

When Ava DuVernay is asked which characters are like her the most she says, “The characters Nova and Charley are the most like me. A lot of the men in the show are like men in my family.” She adds, “A lot of the names you hear on the show are people in my family, so my family calls me every week and say you used so and so name but not mine”. DuVernay also mentions that a lot of what is said to certain characters are things her family has said to her in real life. 

Ambitions is a multigenerational family saga centered around one woman who, having recently relocated and intent on revitalizing her marriage, finds herself going head to head with some of the most powerful and deceitful players in the city.

Essence Atkins plays Amara Hughes, a lawyer in the U.S. Attorney’s Office who has newly arrived in Atlanta with her husband.

While sitting with the cast, Atkins talks about how the series can compete with a lot of shows on TV, she says, “We are not just relegated to the sassy friend. We can do anything and shouldn’t be relegated to the sideline and we can carry stories as we saw through Black Panther — that we can tell all stories.”

OWN ended the interviews with a cocktail party at Legacy Kitchen’s Craft Tavern.

Photos by Peter Forest courtesy of OWN

The post The Summer of OWN Celebration During Essence Fest Brought Out The Brightest Stars appeared first on Black Girl Nerds.

American Airlines issued a public statement Tuesday apologizing to a 37-year-old physician from Houston, who was removed from an aircraft by flight attendants who thought her outfit was inappropriate. Dr. Tisha Rowe, who identifies as African American and Caribbean American, says the incident happened on June 30 after she boarded a flight from Jamaica to Miami wearing a sleeveless romper with her 8-year-old son. Before the flight departed, she says she was approached by a female flight attendant who asked her to step off the plane. Once off the plane, Rowe says the attendant asked her if she had a jacket to cover herself. When she said she didn’t, she was told that she would only be readmitted if she agreed to wrap herself in a blanket.

Humiliated, Rowe told BuzzFeed News that she only complied with the attendant so that she wouldn’t have to forfeit her seat on the plane. “I felt powerless,” she said. “There was nothing I could do in that moment other than give up my money and my seat to defend my position that I was completely appropriate.”

Rowe shared the story on Twitter along with a photo of the tropical printed romper she wore to the airport.

Here is what i was wearing when @AmericanAir asked me to deplane for a talk. At which point I was asked to “cover up”. When defending my outfit I was threatened with not getting back on the flight unless I walked down the aisle wrapped in a blanket. #notsofriendlyskies pic.twitter.com/AYQNNriLcq

— Tisha Rowe MD, MBA (@tisharowemd) July 1, 2019

The family medicine physician also voiced her frustration on Facebook, arguing that she was targeted due to racist stigmas against black women’s bodies.

“We are policed for being black. Our bodies are over sexualized as women and we must adjust to make everyone around us comfortable. I’ve seen white women with much shorter shorts board a plane without a blink of an eye. I guess if it’s a ‘nice ass’ vs. a Serena Booty it’s O.K,” read a now-deleted post on Rowe’s Facebook page.

After she and her son finally walked back to their seats, she said that her son felt ashamed and was moved to tears. He even went as far as to cover his head underneath a blanket and pleaded with her to be compliant. “‘Mommy, follow the rules,’ ” he told her, reports The Washington Post. “I’m trying to explain to an 8-year-old — Mommy did not break the rules.”

When the flight landed Rowe says that she noticed another female passenger who was wearing shorts that were shorter than hers but who apparently faced no issue boarding the plane. “The difference between that woman and me is she was about a size 2, thin,” Rowe told The Washington Post. “It’s hard to understand if you are not a double minority” — both black and a woman — “how it’s not pulling a card.”

In response, American Airlines issued the following statement:

“We were concerned about Dr. Rowe’s comments, and reached out to her and our team at the Kingston airport to gather more information about what occurred. We apologize to Dr. Rowe and her son for their experience, and have fully refunded their travel. We are proud to serve customers of all backgrounds and are committed to providing a positive, safe travel experience for everyone who flies with us.”