![]() ![]() Xerox president Ursula Burns and Oprah Winfrey, Queen of the Universe, took the 10th and 8th spots, respectively, on Fortune's list of the 50 Most Powerful Women (in American business). Burns, 50, has been with Xerox for 28 years and sits on the board of American Express. Oprah…well, you all know what Oprah does. No. 1 on the list is Indra Nooyi, Chairman and CEO of PepsiCo. [Fortune] |
» Jay-Z's Low-Key Label
Flying under the radar, Jay-Z recently launched a label with producing duo Stargate called StarRoc. Jay and Co. will develop new artists through 360 deals — umbrella deals that include albums, tours, merchandise, etc — similar to that $150 million deal Jay-Z signed with Live Nation earlier this year. [NYT] |
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Obnoxiousness Wins
Do you buy it? Who knows — but let's hope this study's findings doesn't make misogynists out of all men around raise time. [WP] |
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» Black-Owned Businesses vs. White-Owned Businesses
A new book, Race and Entrepreneurial Success: Black-, Asian-, and White-Owned Businesses in the United States, analyzes why Asian-American- and white-owned businesses fare so much better than businesses that are black-owned. According to the Washington Post: "By drilling down into the Census data, the authors found that fundamental issues of education and financing greatly impact an entrepreneur's chance for success. Fifty percent of African Americans have less than $6,200 in personal wealth, which is one-eleventh of that held by whites and Asian-Americans. Less than 20 percent of African Americans go to college compared to 30 percent of whites and 50 percent of Asian Americans." |
» More Rich People Feeling The Crunch
Jermaine Dupri recently decided to shut down his new health food restaurant in Atlanta. “The economy has changed dramatically and people just aren’t eating out as much anymore,” Dupri told AllHipHop.com. “People are cutting back everywhere and a lot of companies, including Café Dupri, are feeling the affect. For the past two months business at the Café has been down and if the business isn’t making money, I feel its a smart move to shut it down. Bottom line: if it doesn't make money, it doesn't make sense.” |
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Better Black Television?
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When Vogue Italia editor Franca Sozzani announced her decision to create an all-black issue, she recognized that it might not go over that well in Italy."Maybe in our country it is not the best idea," she said. "But I don't care. I think it is not my problem if they don't like it — it's their problem." It's definitely not a problem at all. Even if it's the lowest-selling Vogue Italia of the year in Italy (although there's no indication that it is), it is certainly the best-selling Vogue Italia issue in the States. This explains why every one I've gone into for the past week has been sold out of them. CONTINUED » |
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Sound Off
The ever-illuminating Freakonomics blog reports on a new study that suggests employees who "sound black" are paid an average of 10 percent less than others. Do you buy this argument? Do you believe there is such a thing as "sounding black" or "sounding white?" If so, how do you sound? |
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And Other Rapper Business Ventures
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» Damn, Yankees?
What's the point of having hundreds of millions of dollars if you don't buy things? None! Which is why Jay-Z, who already owns a portion of the New Jersey Nets, is looking to purchase shares in the New York Yankees. If the folks at the Yankees organization have any doubt as to his level of commitment, they should check out his choice in head wear. [SP] |
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• This is sort of preaching to the choir, but still. The war sucks. [JJP] • Want to learn about the black family? CNN'll school ya. [CL] • More on R. Kelly's pervy past. [SOHH] • True, Chris Brown is younger than Rihanna. But she doesn't like them this young. [SR] |
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Angelina Jolie's Just the Tip of the Klan Hood
Surprise, minorities: Hollywood doesn't like casting us as leads in films, even if that means completely shifting around facts to accommodate white actors. Although director Spike Lee just dressed down the wizened Clint Eastwood for not including black extras in his WWII dramas, a new ABC News article takes issue with the way Hollywood consistently uses whites to fill major roles written for blacks, Hispanics and Asians. To wit:
Also recently manipulated to remove minorities was 21, the story of an MIT "whiz kid" who went to Vegas and made a killing counting cards. In reality, the student is Asian American, but a white Englishman was cast to play him. To get an explanation about why minority actors and actresses are being neglected in favor of whites, do what you do every time you have a question about this really demented world: follow the money: |
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If That City Is Philly, Chicago, Detroit, DC, Atlanta or Baltimore.
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