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American record label 300 Entertainment and financial services company Nasdaq joined forces on Friday morning (June 24) for a special intimate conversation between legendary music executive Kevin Liles and civil rights activist Al Sharpton.

The event brought people from all over the media industry to the Nasdaq MarketSite in the heart of New York City to hear the gems and knowledge Liles and Sharpton have developed throughout their careers. 300 and Nasdaq treated guests to a complimentary breakfast before activist and former organizer of the Womens March, Tameka Mallory, opened the event with a moving introduction that reflected on the efforts Kevin Liles and Al Sharpton have put forth in their respective fields.

Despite the early start time, the audience was fully locked into Liles and Sharpton speaking on topics such as uplifting and protecting Black culture, sticking to your beliefs despite outside influences preventing that, Black Music Month, ways to push the needle and more.

Billboard was at the event on Friday morning and compiled a list of five things we learned from the nearly hour-long conversation. Check out the selections below.

They Believe Roe v. Wade Was Overturned Due to Low Voter Turnout In 2016 Presidential Election

Hours before Kevin Liles and Al Sharpton had their conversation, the Supreme Court overturned the landmark Roe v. Wade decision that protected womens rights regarding abortion. Liles and Sharpton wasted no time discussing the controversial move, which they believed wouldnt have happened if people actually came out to vote in the 2016 presidential election.

As Sharpton said, The reason why they did us in with Roe v. Wade this morning is Donald Trump put three people on the Supreme Court. Its just that simple. If Donald Trump had not been president, he couldnt have done that.

Liles added, Because after eight years of [Barack Obama], I knew something wasnt going to be right, whether we had the right candidate or not. Trump got in office because we did not vote.

Godfather of Soul James Brown Inspired Al Sharptons Hairstyle

Kevin Liles had Al Sharpton speak on his close friendship with the legendary James Brown, whom he met through a mutual friend in New York City. Browns late son Terry was a fan of Sharptons activism, and his death in a car accident was the catalyst that brought Al and James together. The musician was advised to meet with the civil rights activist to set up a show for his son, and the rest was history.

Over time, Brown became a father figure to Al and inspired him to style his hair just like the musician. According to Sharptons recollection, Brown told him, I want you to keep your hair like that as long as Im alive, and revealed the singer gave him validation as a man that he never got from his biological father.

James Brown and Elijah Muhammad Were the Only Two Blacks in the 60s & 70s to Own a Jet

In the middle of telling a story about flying alongside James Brown in first class because his private jet was getting repaired, Sharpton revealed his good friend was the only Black person other than former Nation of Islam leader Elijah Muhammad with their own plane. Some guests in attendance let out a resounding Wow! in shock at hearing no other Black person owned a private jet, but understood why that was the case given how different the world was back in those days.

Russell Simmons 1992 Black Enterprise Cover Pushed Kevin Liles to Be a Music Executive

Liles is one of the most iconic music executives that helped propel hip-hop into what it is today. He gained recognition as president of Def Jam Recordings and executive vice president of the Island Def Jam Music Group from 1999 to 2004. After spending time with Def Jam, Liles served as EVP of Warner Music Group before venturing out on his own in 2009 and creating 300 Entertainment alongside Lyor Cohen, Roger Gold and Todd Moscowitz.

During their conversation, Liles explained Def Jam founder Russell Simmons was his James Brown. If it wasnt for Simmons classic 1992 Black Enterprise cover shoot, Liles wouldnt have set out to achieve everything hes done throughout his career.

I just think about when I saw Russell on the cover of Black Enterprise, and I said, Oh, we can do that? We can have an HBCU hoodie on, sitting on top of a Rolls Royce and they talk about a $34 million rap business. Oh, we can do that, OK There was nothing I could ever think to do but to learn from them.

Kevin Liles Preaches the Idea That They Not Us

Toward the end of the conversation, Liles began breaking down how Simmons sold Def Jam for $140 million, compared to Barry Gordy, who sold Motown for $60 million. Liles then spoke about building a company in eight years and selling it for over $400 million. That tidbit was even more shocking when the music executive said it took 20-plus years to sell Geffen for $340 million.

Yall cant tell me it aint possible, Liles said. But you have to put in the work. I have this saying that I say all the time, They not us. They dont do what we do. I can say that because they dont, and theyre not willing to sacrifice.

He added, How come you didnt see any other CEO out there [marching]? Cause they not us, they dont do what we do.

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5 Things We Learned From Kevin Liles & Al Sharptons Its a New Day Conversation - Billboard

Unity March photograph by David Andrews.

A diverse crowd gathered on a sweltering Saturday for the first-ever Asian American-led Unity March at the National Mall. Over 60 Asian American and Pacific Islander advocacy organizations led the event in response to a rise of anti-Asian racism during the pandemic and the murders of six Asian women at Atlanta massage parlors in March 2021.

Speakers and attendees tackled every issue under the sunethnic studies in K-12 schools, abortion rights, immigration, police violence, and more. The March also highlighted the historical existence of anti-Asian violence: Last week marked 40 years since Vincent Chin was murdered by two white men in Detroit, which sparked the modern Asian American civil rights movement.

Over 50 individuals spoke at the event, including U.S. Youth Poet Laureate Alexandra Huynh, civil rights activist Rev. Al Sharpton, and Gareth and Fe Hall, the parents of Christian Hall, a Chinese-American man who was killed by Pennsylvania state police in 2020.

Washingtonian spoke with organizers and participants about what this moment meant to them:

The paint was barely dry on Anthony Lees week-old mural of Vincent Chin when he and his girlfriend loaded it into a truck and made their way from Detroit to DC. Lee, a muralist and illustrator, was commissioned by the American Citizens for Justice to create the painting ahead of the 40th anniversary and remembrance of Chins death in Detroit.

We just came out here because we felt that, in the discussion about equality and injustice, he is like one of the most important people to be put in that conversation, Lee says. Because the Asian-American civil rights movement was started as a result of fighting for his injustice.

Priya Purandare, Executive Director of the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association, says shes seen a boom in civic engagement over her 15 years in DC: The difference is that Im seeing much more young people becoming politically active, making sure theyre having difficult conversations with their own families.

Amid experiences of violence and discrimination, 39-year-old Ellen Mins grandparents and parents did what they had to do to survive in America; She and her older sister lived in a senior center with her grandparents as children, because her father couldnt afford childcare.

I want to let everyone know that we do belong. We are a part of the fabric of this country and Im marching, and I look at this picture and this is the reason why Im here. For my family, for my grandparents, down to my children, Min says.

Teach Roberts, whos lived in DC for over 20 years, identifies as hapa: half white and half Asian. While studying in Hong Kong, Roberts realized he was missing something: For the first 19 years of life, I kind of did not identify as Asian at all. In Hong Kong, I started learning more about my Chinese side and my heritage. Until then, I didnt feel like a complete person. Now, Roberts organizes with the National Association of Asian American Professionals.

When 9/11 happened, Kiran Gill was living in New York. Gill, now the Executive Director of the Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund, watched as people targeted her community and labeled them as terrorists. To see that again, happening to other communities, you know, in this day and age 20 years later, it saddens me, Gill says.

Gill says one of the first calls her community received was from the Japanese American Citizens League, who recognized the racist rhetoric against the Sikh community as the kind of fear mongering that resulted in Japanese internment during World War II. To see the way our communities have supported each other and really threaded this narrative and understand whats at stake to me that is something that gives me hope, Gill says.

Mian Osumi, a 22-year-old from Bethesda, came to deliver this message: Stop fetishizing Asian women. One side of her sign reads your bad day shouldnt be my last day, referencing police rhetoric of the shooters bad day during the Atlanta shooting. The other side of her sign was a meme calling out white military men with Asian fetishes who prey on young Asian women.

I think humor is a great way to bring attention to a lot of our issues and in a more accessible way. I wanted other Asian women to be like, Ive seen that. Ive experienced that too, Osumi says. Were in this moment of solidarity together.

Derek Yuan flew in from Sacramento Friday night to be at the march. It was a very important trip to make. I had the privilege of working with [APIAVote executive director] Christine Chen last school semester. I got to meet Asian Pacific Islander leaders from all sorts of industries, all sorts of sectors from journalism, or elected officials, people in the API data field, Yuan says. It was really educational. And so it just made sense to continue that sort of learning for me, but also really show out and come support efforts for the Unity March.

Dalip Singh and his son Hersh were visiting from Milwaukee, where, they note, a shooting of Sikh temple happened in 2012. I think its important to come together so that these things stop happening to each one of us, says Dalip, a physician. You know, its better to be part of something than be isolated and get slaughtered.

Tiffany Chang Lawson, a 33-year-old Taiwanese-American from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, carried a sign readingProtect Asian Women in traditional Chinese on one side, and the same in English on the other.We need to take care of our sisters, Lawson says.

Lyric Amodia, seen here with fellow members of Howard Universitys NAACP Council, spoke to the crowd about standing in solidarity in the face of adversity.Considering this week that weve had, were just here to really fellowship and have some unity, have a great time, and just talk about whats important to make a difference, Amodia says.

Hannah H Yu traveled down from New York City with the group YWCA Queens (Young Womens Christian Association of Queens), a group aimed at eliminating racism and empowering women. After posing for this photo, the groups executive director Eun-Kyung Kim, pictured below, provided some background on the gesture: We in Korean culture, we say all the time, Oh, we love you. I love you, but sometimes these are very difficult to say I love you all the time. So they tried to make the heart shape. One of the celebrities in Korea, he was like, this way its like a very small heart.

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A First of Its Kind March on the National Mall Counters Anti-Asian Racism - Washingtonian

Crown Heights, Brooklyn, may have been a fast-gentrifying province of Hipsterville for the past decade, but 30 years ago it was still an affordable community populated largely by working-class Black Americans and recent immigrants from Caribbean nations. It was then, and remains today, the world capital of the Chabad-Lubavitch dynasty of Hasidic Judaism. Tensions among Crown Heights various constituencies exploded into several nights of rioting in August of 1991, after a vehicle in a Lubavitch leaders motorcade ran a red light and struck two 7-year-old Guyanese-American boys, killing one of them. Hours after the accident, a group of young Black men stabbed a rabbinical scholar on the street in what was widely inferred as retaliation for the death of Gavin Cato, the child who died in the vehicle collision.

Nine months later, Black, Baltimore-born, playwright and actor Anna Deavere Smith first performed Fires in the Mirror: Crown Heights, Brooklyn and Other Identities. Her solo show that attempted to make sense of the tragedy and spotlight how a neighborhood can be both shared and divided.

To produce the show, Deavere Smith conducted scores of interviews with participants, witnesses, and cultural observers from the Black and Jewish communities, as well as outsiders. Her subjects ranged in notoriety from the Rev. Al Sharpton to Anonymous Young Man No. 2. Deavere Smith wove together a series of roughly 25 brief monologues that together offer a sort of panorama of the events that transpired in Crown Heights that August.

Deavere Smith has pioneered this format, known as verbatim theatre, where a playwright constructs a story using real peoples words, and she returns to it periodically to interrogate thorny subjects. In fact, the 1992 Los Angeles riotssparked by the acquittal of the Los Angeles police officers whod been caught on video beating motorist Rodney Kinghappened the same week Smith opened Fires in the Mirror 2,500 miles east in New York City; shed go on to cover the larger and deadlier L.A. riots in a similarly formatted, one-woman stage play in 1994. She also performed her solo show about Americas dysfunctional healthcare system, Let Me Down Easy, at Arena Stage in 2011.

Whether verbatim theatre is more useful in investigating a social tragedy than, say, a documentary film or oral history of the event, is an intriguing question. Do we gain a deeper understanding or have a stronger emotional response to an event when the reportage is itself a performance? (Smiths original Fires in the Mirror was filmed and broadcast as an episode of American Playhouse on public television in 1993.)

Theatre Js 30-years-later version of Fires in the Mirror, co-directed by outgoing Theatre J head Adam Immerwahr and January LaVoy, who also stars, complicates the question by removing another point of connection to material. LaVoy is clearly a versatile and persuasive actorcapably inhabiting the shows approximately two dozen nonfictional charactersbut she is not the artist who conducted these interviews and stitched them into a script. (Michael Benjamin Washington took over for Smith in Fires in the Mirrors 2019 New York revival; while a production in Milwaukee that same year split the monologues between two female actors, one Jewish and one Black.) The script has not been updated; its the same text Smith used for the original performance. But todays production is one of the rare instances where the fluid impermanence of live theater might be regarded more as a bug than as a feature.

And its profoundly different than a new actor inheriting the role of Heidi Schreck in Schrecks autobiographical solo show What the Constitution Means to Me. Schrecks case is an example of a performers representation of her own life, which was then passed on to another actor. But Smith was never playing herself; she was playing a selection of people she sought out, observed, and interviewed. While most of the subjects she identifies in the script are alive today, its unclear if LaVoy ever met those people.

Impression is not a word any actor portraying a real, living person likes to hear, but when theyre covering two dozen roles of various genders, races, and, ages (complete with lickety-split costume changes) in a 100-minute performance, the effect is inevitably more one of novelty than of exploration. Its the eventthe riotsthats being investigated here; not the plays (nonfictional) characters. A projected photograph and a caption identifies each new speaker on a video screen behind LaVoy. She never leaves the stage for more than a few seconds, reappearing with new vocal cadence, a new gait, and new props right down to the chicken wing sauce that one character dribbles onto his shirt. The precision of her changes, along with the lighting, sound, and projections (which includes a scenic change artist, a credit Ive never seen before) are all impressive technical elements of the show.

But why revisit this generation-old history at all? Does Fires in the Mirror have the same sturdy legs that, say, The Laramie Project, a later specimen of verbatim theatre thats been performed all over, carries? Every available sociological metric would seem to indicate that Laramie, Wyoming, has changed less in the 24 years since the violent tragedy that the play investigatesthe torture and murder of gay University of Wyoming student Matthew Shepardthan Crown Heights has in the 31 years since the riots. Three decades later, however, Theater J promises the solo show is something every American can relate to, regardless of race, color, or beliefs.

What gives Fires in the Mirror currency today, even as the uprising it investigates has been largely overwritten in our memory by fresher calamities, is that Deavere Smith takes her time to immerse the audience in the milieu of Crown Heights as it was in the late 80s and early 90s. She barely addresses the traffic accident or the violence that followed until the shows second half. One monologue from Los Angeles rapper Monique Big Mo Matthews takes aim at misogyny in late-1980s hip-hop. Another captures a Jewish school teacher whose baby accidentally turned on her radio during Shabbat. The woman asks a young Black boy passing by to turn off the radio for her because, as an observant Jew, she cant do it herself during Shabbat. The woman says with a laugh,He probably thought, And people say Jewish people are really smart and they dont know how to turn off their radios. These gentle observations of how people are different foreshadow the conflict to come, and that doesnt have an expiration date.

Fires in the Mirror: Crown Heights, Brooklyn and Other Identities, written and originally performed by Anna Deavere Smith, co-directed by Adam Immerwahr and January LaVoy and performed by LaVoy, plays at Theater J, and is available to stream online, through July 3. theaterj.org. $50$75.

Link:
Thirty Years Later, Fires in the Mirror Still Burns - WCP - Washington City Paper

LOS ANGELES, June 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ --Led by attorney Zulu Ali and his daughter, attorney Whitney Ali, the Law Offices of Zulu Ali & Associates, LLP, the largest Black-owned law firm in California's Inland Empire, has been named Best Law Firm by The American Institute of Trial Lawyers.

The American Institute of Trial Lawyers is an invitation only professional organization composed of premier law firms and trial attorneys from each state. These law firms and attorneys exemplify the very best qualities and qualifications. Each law firm must meet stringent qualifications. Selection is based on a thorough multi-phase process which includes peer nominations and third party research. Membership is extended to only a select few in each state and/or region.

Inspired by the legacy of civil rights attorneys Charles Hamilton Houston, Thurgood Marshall, and Avon Williams, Jr., the Law Offices of Zulu Ali & Associates, LLP was founded in 2007 by Attorney Zulu Ali with a focus on representing persons accused of crimes, immigrants, and persons seeking civil justice in state and federal courts.

Founder and Principal Attorney, Zulu Ali, is a former police officer and U.S. Marine Corps veteran. He earned a juris doctorate in law (J.D.) from Trinity International University; a masters in administration of justice (M.S.) and business (M.B.A.) from University of Phoenix; a degree with a focus on African studies from Regents College through a consortium with Tennessee State University; and is a doctoral scholar researching pan-African business and trade at California Southern University.

Firm partner, Whitney Ali, earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of California, Riverside, and a Juris Doctorate from John F. Kennedy University College of Law. She began her legal career assisting with the firm's criminal case management in 2015 under the mentorship of her father, Attorney Zulu Ali, who is the firm's founder and principal attorney. In 2021 attorney Whitney Ali was named a management level partner.

The Law Offices of Zulu Ali & Associates, LLP has been named as one of the top 10 law firms by Attorney and Practice Magazine; and its founder, Attorney Zulu Ali, has been named top 100 lawyers by the National Black Lawyers and National Trial Lawyers; a Top 10 Lawyer by the American Academy of Trial Attorneys, American Jurist Institute, Attorney & Practice Magazine; Rue Ratings Best Lawyer in America; and Litigator of the Year by the American Institute of Trial Lawyers.

Attorney Zulu Ali is the Director of the Stop and Frisk Youth Leadership Academy, which mentors and trains at-risk youth to deal with police encounters; Director of the Southern California Veterans Legal Clinic, a legal clinic offering no cost and low cost legal services to military veterans; Board Member of the Islamic Development Center of Moreno Valley Shurah Board; and a member of Iota Phi Theta Fraternity, Inc. serving on the international governing body (Grand Council) as General Legal Counsel.

Both attorney Zulu Ali and attorney Whitney Ali are distinguished biographees of Marquis Who's Who; and Attorney Zulu Ali is a recipient of the Albert Neilson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award 2021, Marquis' Top Lawyer in 2021, and received the Marquis Who's Who Humanitarian Award for 2022. In 2017, Attorney Ali was recognized as one of the most influential African American Leaders in Los Angeles by the National Action Network founded by Reverend Al Sharpton.

Press Contact:

Rosa Nunez, Producer

Justice Watch Radio

951-782-8722

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Zulu Ali & Associates, a Black-owned Law Firm Led by a Father-Daughter Legal Duo, Has Been Named Best Law Firm by the American Institute of Trial...

DOVER, Del..--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Today, grassroots advocacy group Citizens for Judicial Fairness joined forces with famed civil rights leader Reverend Al Sharpton and local activists Pastor Blaine Hackett and Kendra Ray, sister of Jeremy McDole, to denounce the scheduled confirmation of Nathan Cook to the Delaware Court of Chancery.

The confirmation hearing is scheduled for 1:30 PM and Cook is expected to be confirmed easily, despite the fact that his appointment to the Chancery means it will remain all-white. Ray, Hackett, and a representative from Sharptons National Action Network will make public comments at the hearing demanding the Senate not confirm Cook given the lack of diversity and equity on the Court.

Said Reverend Al Sharpton, I am deeply disappointed that today, equity will once again be denied on the Court of Chancery. It is shameful for the Chancery Court to remain all-white in 2022 when Delaware is 40% people of color and the decisions the court makes affect millions of Black and brown employees across the country. It is imperative that Delawares leaders, starting with Governor Carney, recognize this egregious wrong and begin taking meaningful steps to restore trust in its justice system through diverse court appointments.

Said police reform and racial justice activist Keandra Ray, Im testifying before the Senate Executive Committee today because the lack of diversity in our courts is disgusting. Governor Carney and his cronies in the Senate should be ashamed of this appointment. Im not going to stop fighting until our courts actually look like us and deliver the justice we deserve.

230 years of an all-white Chancery Court and only a single Black justice in the courts entire history is a stain on the state of Delaware and an indictment of Governor Carneys failed leadership, said Citizens for Judicial Fairness Campaign Manager Chris Coffey. Delawareans deserve leaders who talk the talk, not just walk the walk, on judicial equity and fairness. Were going to keep up our efforts to fight the Delaware Old Boys Club that excludes and ignores the states most vulnerable communities until we see real progress and accountability.

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Citizens for Judicial Fairness, Reverend Al Sharpton, and Local Activists Denounce Planned Confirmation of Another White Male Justice to All-White...