Uncategorized
https://www.blackenterprise.com/serena-williams-pregnant-at-the-met-gala/
Serena Jameka Williams was Gucci down at the Met Gala. The darling of tennis served in a black and bedazzled two-piece ensemble with white tulle that cascaded to the ground and into a train. On her head, she wore a blinged out headpiece by Lelet NY. Layers of Tiffany & Co. pearls dropped from her neckline. On her arm was her bearded hubby Alexis Ohanian. On her midsection, she donned a baby bump that indicates the tennis royalty is with child and expanding her brood with baby number two. Serena announced the pregnancy, subtly, in an Instagram post:
“Was so excited when Anna Wintour invited the 3 of us to the Met Gala,” the caption read above a rundown of glam credits and below a slideshow of five images.
A litany of congratulations erupted in the comments sections from a number of followers and celebrities, including actress and Instagram influencer Tabitha Brown, tech titan Bozoma St. John, Ciara, Michael B. Jordan and Boris Kudjoe. Even Barbie by Mattel sent a “Glowing 
Congrats!”
View this post on Instagram
Certainly, the public can say we didn’t see this coming, particularly when Serena endured the horrors of being a Black woman navigating maternal health, and was one of the more vocal celebs that spoke up and advocated for Black women’s experience of medical neglect and postpartum depression. The three-time Olympic winner was candid about almost losing her life after delivering her daughter Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr. by C-section—and developing a pulmonary embolism. She penned an article for CNN, detailing her ordeal in 2018. BLACK ENTERPRISE is wishing Serena a healthier birthing experience and an even healthy newborn baby
Black women succumb to childbirth at higher rates than white and Hispanic women. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention produced a report in 2021 that revealed “the maternal mortality rate for non-Hispanic Black (subsequently, Black) women was 69.9 deaths per 100,000 live births, 2.6 times the rate for non-Hispanic White (subsequently, White) women.”
Organizations such as National Birth Equity Collaborative (NBEC); Sista Midwife Productions and the Sista Midwife Directory and Black Mamas Matter Alliance are working to address racial disparity and foster healthier maternal outcomes from Black women.
RELATED CONTENT: Moving On: Serena Williams Opens Up About What’s Next After Retiring From Tennis
Serena Jameka Williams was Gucci down at the Met Gala. The darling of tennis served in a black and bedazzled two-piece ensemble with white tulle that cascaded to the ground and into a train. On her head, she wore a blinged out headpiece by Lelet NY. Layers of Tiffany & Co. pearls dropped from her neckline. On her arm was her bearded hubby Alexis Ohanian. On her midsection, she donned a baby bump that indicates the tennis royalty is with child and expanding her brood with baby number two. Serena announced the pregnancy, subtly, in an Instagram post:
“Was so excited when Anna Wintour invited the 3 of us to the Met Gala,” the caption read above a rundown of glam credits and below a slideshow of five images.
A litany of congratulations erupted in the comments sections from a number of followers and celebrities, including actress and Instagram influencer Tabitha Brown, tech titan Bozoma St. John, Ciara, Michael B. Jordan and Boris Kudjoe. Even Barbie by Mattel sent a “Glowing Congrats!”
View this post on Instagram
Certainly, the public can say we didn’t see this coming, particularly when Serena endured the horrors of being a Black woman navigating maternal health, and was one of the more vocal celebs that spoke up and advocated for Black women’s experience of medical neglect and postpartum depression. The three-time Olympic winner was candid about almost losing her life after delivering her daughter Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr. by C-section—and developing a pulmonary embolism. She penned an article for CNN, detailing her ordeal in 2018. BLACK ENTERPRISE is wishing Serena a healthier birthing experience and an even healthy newborn baby
Black women succumb to childbirth at higher rates than white and Hispanic women. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention produced a report in 2021 that revealed “the maternal mortality rate for non-Hispanic Black (subsequently, Black) women was 69.9 deaths per 100,000 live births, 2.6 times the rate for non-Hispanic White (subsequently, White) women.”
Organizations such as National Birth Equity Collaborative (NBEC); Sista Midwife Productions and the Sista Midwife Directory and Black Mamas Matter Alliance are working to address racial disparity and foster healthier maternal outcomes from Black women.
RELATED CONTENT: Moving On: Serena Williams Opens Up About What’s Next After Retiring From Tennis
Fifteen years ago this week, the Marvel Cinematic Universe launched with the arrival of Iron Man in theaters. A decade and a half later, the MCU is the biggest live-action movie and TV franchise in history. Its success, as well as the success of the earlier non-MCU Marvel-based films like X-Men and Spider-Man, took many in Hollywood by total surprise. It took years to get Iron Man and the rest to go from comic to screen, and studio after studio passed on what now seem like no-brainer ideas. But the groundwork for a successful media of shared Marvel heroes happened nearly two decades before Tony Stark said the words “I am Iron Man.” And it all happened on Saturday morning and weekday afternoon TV with ’90s Marvel cartoons.
The Fox Kids Marvel Revolution
Of course, it all really began with the comics. In the ‘80s and early ‘90s, Marvel Comics was the king of comic book publishers. For much of that decade, Marvel’s two biggest sellers were consistently Uncanny X-Men and The Amazing Spider-Man. These titles were so huge, that in 1990 and 1991, Marvel relaunched both Spider-Man and X-Men with new #1 issues, which collectively sold 10 million copies. So one would think this success would lead to animated shows. Well, not so fast there.
Regardless of this runaway comic book success, it was a battle for X-Men to make it to air. Margaret Loesch, a veteran TV executive, saw X-Men’s hit potential with kids. But not one executive at Fox believed in it. They just didn’t get it, thinking comics were too confusing and esoteric to translate to children’s TV. Eventually, Loesch staked her reputation on X-Men being a hit, and the network reluctantly agreed. They told her if X-Men didn’t click, it would be the end of her tenure at Fox. Not only did it click, but X-Men also helped push Fox Kids from fourth place in the ratings to first place almost instantly.
X-Men Launches the MAU: Marvel Animated Universe
X-Men: The Animated Series premiered on Halloween in 1992 as an instant smash. The characters became household names. X-Men sold everything from action figures to pizza. Fox wanted more Marvel, and two years later, Spider-Man debuted on weekday afternoons. And from that very first episode, Spidey let viewers know that he existed in a larger universe. He name-dropped the Avengers and the Fantastic Four. By season two, he met his Fox Kids compatriots the X-Men in a two-part episode event. Even though an entirely different animation studio produced Spider-Man, the voice actors from X-Men reprised their roles, cementing the notion of a unified continuity between both shows. But that was just the beginning.
We should note that the 1994 Spider-Man was not the first Spidey show to feature the X-Men and other Marvel heroes. The 1981-1984 cartoon series Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends had Peter Parker partner with two former X-Men, Iceman and Firestar. And the X-Men guest starred several times, marking their first animated appearance. But Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends didn’t lead to any spinoffs, despite Marvel Entertainment hoping to create an X-Men show. But now, back to the ‘90s.
Iron Man and the Fantastic Four Expand the Universe
With the success of the two Fox Kids Marvel shows, Marvel Entertainment wanted more. When Fox passed on Iron Man and Fantastic Four, they went the syndicated route for these two shows. The fall of 1994 saw the premiere of the Marvel Action Hour, featuring Iron Man and Fantastic Four. Stan Lee himself was the host. The first seasons were not particularly well received, but the two shows still got second seasons, slightly revamped to reflect the tone of X-Men. An Incredible Hulk series and a Silver Surfer show followed them, although the Silver Surfer’s only lasted one season. The Hulk’s show in particular had ties to the MAU, as Robert Hays once again voiced Iron Man.
While the other Marvel cartoons weren’t as huge as the two heavy hitters of X-Men and Spider-Man, they all tied into one continuity. Both Iron Man and the Fantastic Four appeared on Spider-Man after their shows ended, in the epic 1997 Secret Wars event, and the original voice actors returned to reprise their roles. This settled any dispute of whether or not Iron Man and Fantastic Four were of a single continuity with the Fox Kids Marvel shows. Despite minor continuity issues here and there, this connected universe basically worked across all these series. However, by the time Avengers: United They Stand and Spider-Man Unlimited came out in 1999, the MAU fizzled out. But at its peak, it proved an interconnected Marvel universe could work outside the niche comics audience.
’90s Marvel Kids Become 2010’s MCU Adults
The wild popularity of Iron Man shocked Hollywood executives when it hit theaters in 2008. It was the same when X-Men exploded in 2000. There was no general awareness that an audience this big existed for characters studio heads likely considered B-list. They were equally flabbergasted when the first Avengers made box office history. But they shouldn’t have been; the kids who watched the interconnected Marvel cartoons of the ‘90s had become adults. They were ready for live-action versions of the universe they watched on TV with their bowl of cereal. Warner Bros. later did an interconnected DC animated universe of their own with Justice League (and they did it with higher quality). But Marvel beat them to the punch. Without a doubt, the MCU ultimately did this interconnected Marvel universe better too. But the often crudely animated ‘90s Marvel cartoons all walked so the MCU could run.
The post How ’90s Marvel Cartoons Paved the Way for the MCU appeared first on Nerdist.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams has a new strategy to deter car thefts—free Apple Airtags.
That’s right. Fox News reported, thanks to a donation from The Association for Better New York, a nonprofit, 500 AirTags will be handed out to car owners in the city. Apple AirTags are GPS tracking devices that attach to personal belongings to keep track of them. Calling them “easy to monitor,” Adams said at a press conference that car theft is taking a toll on the city. “The aggravated number of grand larceny autos continues to drive up crime in our city,” Adams explained. “This simple device, this simple AirTag, hidden in a car location that a person is not aware, of is an excellent tracking device.”
Police officers will hand out the devices, including officers covering the 43rd Precinct in the Bronx. According to Adams, crime has risen in the Castle Hill neighborhood.
Business Insider reports car thefts, specifically Hyundais and Kias, have skyrocketed after a viral TikTok trend. In 2021, a TikTok user posted a video showing how a thief could easily start a Kia by turning an internal switch with a simple tool. Data shows NYPD received reports of 104 Hyundais and 99 Kias stolen last December.
The trend prompted stolen car reports across the country. In Charlotte, North Carolina, Charlotte-Mecklenburg police hosted a steering wheel lock giveaway on April 29. One hundred devices were given away on a first-come, first-served basis to residents who owned a Hyundai or Kia dated between 2011-2021 with a key lock.
While AirTags are simple, lawmakers are worried the GPS tracker will promote another crime—stalking. Last June, a woman from Indiana was suspicious of her boyfriend cheating on her. Using the AirTag, she tracked him down and then killed him.
Republican Sen. Nathan Manning claims they are “dangerous,” but Apple released a statement assuring the opposite. “Unwanted tracking has long been a societal problem, and we took this concern seriously in the design of AirTag.”