Latest news with #BlackandBrown
Yahoo
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Tim McGraw's Daughter Confirms She's Queer to Celebrate Pride Month
Tim McGraw's Daughter Confirms She's Queer to Celebrate Pride Month originally appeared on Parade. June is Pride Month, and tons of gay celebrities and straight allies are showing their support for the LGBTQA+ community on social media. Amongst them is and oldest daughter, Gracie, 28. She recently re-posted to her Instagram stories a post from Adam Eli that reads, "EVERYONE GET MORE GAY NOW!" and underneath she wrote, "Happy freaking Pride. I love being queer." She also reposted a post from drag queen Marti Gould Cummings that reads, "Pride began as a riot led by Black and Brown trans activists." In the caption, Cummings wrote, "HAPPY PRIDE! Protect trans people - Pride was and is a riot and protest against the patriarchal norms that hold us back!" We aren't sure that Gracie McGraw has ever publicly stated that she is queer — we can't find anything that says she parents have always stayed pretty quiet with anything politically charged, but they clearly support their daughters in all endeavors. Gracie recently debuted at Carnegie Hall for her performances of The Great War & The Great Gatsby, which will air on PBS for Veteran's Day. Her parents were right there cheering her on for her premiere on one of the world's most renowned stages. For Gracie's 28th birthday on May 5, McGraw posted a throwback photo of them together from when Gracie was little and wrote, "Can't believe this little bit turns 28 today! Happy birthday to our Gracie! You are a light in this world my sweet girl. So much heart, soul, respect and yes LOADS of talent!!! We hope you have the best day ever and know that you are loved beyond measure! I love you, my little girl." And the McGraw patriarch posted a photo to Instagram in September 2024 to celebrate wife Faith's birthday and wrote, "Happy birthday to this remarkable woman! My beautiful, strong, crazy, badass wife!!!! I love my girl with everything that I am and could ever hope to be! She is our beacon, our rock, our strength. The girls and I are so very blessed! Our girls could not have a better role model in their lives as how to be an incredibly strong woman. And how to believe in themselves and be in charge of their lives (every aspect of their lives)! Let's honor the women in our lives with respect and make sure that we fight for their rights right alongside them!" Notably, Hill was also one of the handful of country artists who supported singer Chely Wright when she publicly came out in 2010. In addition to Gracie, McGraw and Hill are parents to Maggie, 26, and Audrey, 23, who just recently released her first album and is going on tour this summer with Brandi Carlile. 🎬 SIGN UP for Parade's Daily newsletter to get the latest pop culture news & celebrity interviews delivered right to your inbox 🎬 Tim McGraw's Daughter Confirms She's Queer to Celebrate Pride Month first appeared on Parade on Jun 3, 2025 This story was originally reported by Parade on Jun 3, 2025, where it first appeared.
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
How To Start A Farm: These Black Canadian Farmers Are Battling the Food Crisis
Across the nation, Canadians are feeling the pinch of increasing food prices. According to the Bank of Canada, food inflation hit 10% in 2022, the highest in thirty years. Since then, inflation has continued to rise, but only about 3.5%. This year, the average family of four is expected to spend $16,833.67 on food, an increase of up to $801.56 from last year. After years of food insecurity, the situation in Canada's biggest city has become untenable. The Daily Bread reported that 10% of Torontonians were using food banks—a first for the 'first world' city. To combat urban hunger, Mayor Olivia Chow of Toronto declared a food emergency across the city. Toronto is the 3rd city to officially declare a food emergency, after Mississauga and Kingston in 2024. The declaration is another largely symbolic gesture from the government and encourages all levels of government to help fund ongoing programs. An answer with no real action, the emergency declaration leaves citizens with little hope of relief and assistance. The failure of the city to provide relief is part of the nation's failure to provide a sustainable agricultural system. The real consequences are not just to family budgets but to individual health. It feels as if every day, there is another food recall from dairy to meat, etc. Last summer, three people in Ontario died in a listeriosis outbreak associated with certain Silk products. It's not just funding food; Canada has failed to regulate its largest agribusinesses. In partnership with the government, Canada's agribusinesses have used legal shenanigans like tied employment to make a profit off thousands of desperate Black and Brown migrant workers. Lured with the hope of citizenship, farmers primarily from Central America and the Caribbean face abuses the U.N. says is 'tantamount to modern slavery.' So if our food is killing us to make, afford and consume, what can we do about it? In an open letter to the city, Jessey Njau, the founder of Zawadi Farms in Toronto, appealed to the municipal government to call a food emergency (which they did) but also to provide support to urban farms like his. Njau is calling for fiscal and non fiscal changes at the local level, including: Ensuring that Toronto's food programs, including school meal programs, prioritize local farms over industrial suppliers, simplify bureaucratic processes to help small farms sell directly to institutions like schools, hospitals, and community centers, develop a system for aggregating and distributing produce from multiple small farms. Jessey Njau, Zawadi Farm along with Arnest Sebbumba of Sarn Farms, and Judith Prince of Ubuntu Farms. Both farms are proudly represented at the Downsview location. These actions are meant to help small farmers, who are at a disadvantage among Canada's larger, more established businesses. Njau, a Kenyan migrant to Toronto and former IT consultant, set up a five-acre farm in Downsview Park, but he is not the only one. While the government and its collaborators face a class action lawsuit for their treatment of Black migrants, new Black agriculturalists are popping up across the country to feed the community and the country. Even before this current crisis, a quarter of Black residents in Toronto were food insecure. Neighbourhoods that have large Black and migrant populations are at higher risk of facing food stress. The North Toronto area, where Zawadi Farms is located, faces more serious food insecurity issues than most of the city. According to the Black Creek Food Justice Network, residents of the neighbourhood pay seven percent more for food, even as the community has one of the lowest incomes in the city. This is why Njau wants the city to connect local farmers to community food programs. Rather than paying larger businesses to fund school programs, shelter food assistance, etc, he believes local farms like his can provide for the community. With a consistent stream of income, Zawadi and other farms can continue to build operations. 'We want to be financially resilient,' said Njau to ByBlacks. Zawadi Farms, an 11-acre plot, sits on land owned by the Canada Lands Company and was granted to Zawadi through partnerships with food nonprofit Fresh City. But they have plans to grow further, especially if the city takes their call to action seriously. Zawadi is more of a social enterprise than a profit-maximizing business. Part of its programming includes workshops with schools and event space rentals. With commercial operations, Njau hopes to put more money into feeding people. Currently, Zawadi is one of a handful of Black farms that sell their produce via subscription and at farmers' markets, including the St. Lawrence Farmers Market. But it's not the only game in town. Njau's model for urban farming comes from the Black community in Toronto. 'Sarn Farms is growing Afro-centric crops, Ubuntu Farm, Black Creek Community Farm, Toronto Black Farmers. They have all been doing the same thing,' says Ngau. West of Zawadi is the Black Creek community, a neighbourhood of migrants, many of them Black. Speaking different languages from across the Black diaspora, it can be hard for these groups to build a sense of belonging. But when the topic of food comes up, everyone is in unison. The Black Creek Community Farm provides residents in the area with culturally appropriate staples like okra and other agricultural products that are not affordable in Loblaws or Metro. 'We are an 8-acre farm annually growing over 32,000 lbs of produce and over 110 diverse range of vegetables, fruits, and herbs, including culturally significant crops such as callaloo, garden eggs, okra, bitter melon, and Scotch bonnet pepper,' said Ohemaa Boateng, Executive Director of Black Creek Community Farm. Black Creek Community Farm in Toronto Like many, she loves the farm for its sense of belonging and community. Alongside staple vegetables like tomatoes, kale, and carrots, the organizations' produce is available through their community market, Community Supported Agriculture Program, and food justice initiatives that distribute fresh, organic produce to low-income families. While the Black Creek area has large Asian communities, the region also embraces its Black culture and traditions. The farm brings together a global village through field trips, workshops, and free community events like the Annual Farm Festival, taking place this year on July 19. A post shared via Instagram Currently, the BCCF operates under the management of FoodShare Toronto. Their goal is to establish Black Creek Community Farm as a fully community-led and community-owned organization, ensuring that the people who live and work in Jane-Finch have direct agency over the farm's future. They are currently conversing with partners, including the City of Toronto, to secure long-term land tenure. Both farms have been very successful without ownership; the real advantages come with land ownership. At least, that is what Toyin Kayo-Ajayi, founder of the Canadian Black Farmers Association, believes. The Nigerian-born BC local says the Black community needs to own land to make food security a reality. A farmer from his youth growing up in Nigeria, Toyin is unafraid of the Canadian hinterland. 'Many migrants come from the bush (rural areas), but come to Canada and stay away. We need to change that thinking.' Toyin is not just a farmer in BC but an advocate, food processor and social entrepreneur. 'Instead of a condo, the community should buy five acres of land,' said Kayo-Ajayi. While the BCCF and Zawadi use borrowed land, Toyin owns his land and Kara Kata Farms has BC official farm status, essential to qualifiying for certain tax exemptions and subsidies that lower your expenses. Having official farm status is rare in the Black Community, but not impossible. A post shared via Instagram 'My grandfather told a story about how a pepper seed can feed a city. Once you plant a seed, it will grow peppers with fifty seeds. Those fifty seeds will grow fifty seeds each, and eventually you will have enough food for a city.' Toyin explained to me. The sentiment is nice, but without any tangible plans to make it happen, his grandfather's words would stay just that. But the BC farmer is full of plans. From goat banking to controlled capital expenditure, he is ready to help any new would-be farmers. 'People keep telling me you came from a village in Africa. You came to Canada, you ran back into the bush. What are you doing in the bush? Why are you not coming to the city?' says Toyin. Many Black people in Canada are a generation removed from farming at most. My parents grew up as subsistence farmers before coming to Canada. I haven't seen them pick up a seed since. But I have heard them (and most migrants) complain about the food here, yet migrants make up a tiny proportion of farm owners. With high start-up costs, Toyin knows that anyone who wants to be a farmer needs to rely on a support system. So, how should you go about starting your farm? Toyin's first approach includes a 5-acre concept: 'Let's say you have a house in the city, sell it, buy five acres, half an hour or 45 minutes away from the city. The house is there, the land is there, and you live there and farm it.' Buying the land is, of course, important to farming, but owning five acres in BC comes with a specific status as a farmer. But even if you have the land, creating food is not easy or cheap. Animal husbandry is an easier route to begin with, according to Toyin. His goat banking system would let members pay to care for a goat and then get to keep its babies for themselves. He says a goat is a great way to start a farm, even with a little money. For farmers like Njau and Toyin, once they started their farming journey, everything changed. A post shared via Instagram 'It's part of getting people involved, getting people to have a sense of belonging. It's not the money you are putting in.' However, since cash is still king, having commercial operations is always useful. Toyin also sells his African soil mix online and will be available in stores soon. What sets Zawadi Farms, the BCCF and Toyins' five acres apart from the rest of Canadian agribusiness is the mission statement to uplift everyone. 'You can have one or two acres for people generally in the community to be involved. Like a shared partnership. Once you get everybody involved, then gradually, somebody gets some money, buys farmland and you start again.' If we as a community are going to sacrifice our bodies for Canadians to eat, we should do it with sustainability, ownership and cooperation in mind. It's not hard; we just have to follow the examples in our community.
Chicago Tribune
11-05-2025
- Business
- Chicago Tribune
Featuring Black-owned and wellness businesses, the Aux opens in Evanston
A new business hub featuring businesses focusing on Black-owned and/or wellness businesses opened in Evanston at 2223 Washington Street on May 10. Named The Aux, the hub will be able to house up to 12 businesses at its building when fully occupied. The Aux so far hosts a Wintrust Bank kiosk, a community kitchen, a gym, a laundromat/cafe, a podcast studio, a hair salon, a doula office, a startup office and open spaces for socializing and community. Co-developer Tiffini Holmes said that while people might assume wellness only adheres to physical exercise, the businesses at The Aux are meant to focus on health and wellness holistically, including mental health and more. 'There are some basic necessities: Safety, money (and) shelter that also embody wellness. Because I can't worry about taking a gym class or movement class if I can't afford to do laundry or if it's not a safe place for me to go and do those things,' she said. The Laundry Cafe, owned by police officers Jacqui White and Tosha Wilson, opened its doors to the public prior to Saturday. Holmes said the two Evanston natives from Florence Street were looking for a retirement plan, and that they viewed laundry as a necessity and wanted for their customers to be in a clean, comfortable environment that wouldn't make doing laundry feel like such a chore. Wilson said the idea of combining a laundromat and cafe stemmed from a curious search on the internet. '(Europeans) chill at the laundromat, they do things at the laundromat, they have bean bags, they have a library within in the laundromat. So I'm like, 'Well, why can't we have that here?'' she said. White, an officer with the Highland Park Police Department, said she saw how people connected with each other in cafes in that area over coffee. 'We created an environment where you can relax and chill, get the necessity done, plus have a nice cup of coffee and some light bites and just bringing people together,' she said. 'We grew up on Florence Avenue here in Evanston, the 2nd Ward,' said White. 'So we are the Florence kids, and we were inspired by our experience on Florence. Really, this is Tosha's idea, but just coming from Florence, we wanted to give back to Florence and the Evanston community in general.' The laundromat/cafe business is open 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., Tuesday through Sunday, and also has pick-up and delivery services. Located at The Aux is a doula agency and doula training academy named Sokana Collective. Co-Founder Nancy Cowans said Sokana has been around for over 20 years and has trained over 60 people to be doulas, or what's commonly known as birthing coaches. The collective assigns doulas to serve families and also trains and employs people to work as doulas. 'Our mission is to help marginalized communities, Black and Brown communities, BIPOC, and if they can't pay, we do it for free,' Cowans said. Holmes said Sokana's role in maternal health is why they were selected to locate at The Aux. 'We know that there's a population of women, Black women in particular, who have higher death rates. Doulas help mitigate some of that by being there before, during and after the process for those new parents,' Holmes said. Per the CDC, the maternal mortality rate for Black women is 2.6 times higher than for non-Hispanic white women. Several businesses at The Aux, including The Laundry Cafe, hair salon Embrace Your Crown, Chicky's Kitchen Creations, are owned by graduates of Sunshine Enterprise, a business academy based in Chicago's South Side. Sunshine Enterprise's Managing Director Laura Lane Taylor said the group launched in 2012 in Chicago's Woodlawn neighborhood to help people in the neighborhood turn their talents into businesses, and has expanded to Evanston with The Aux. 'This neighbor who has been selling cakes out of their house, someone who has a home child care service, how do we grow businesses like that in the community?' she said. In 2012, the enterprise began a fast-tracked 12-week business class program for entrepreneurs to learn more about starting or growing their businesses. Sunshine Enterprise classes and workshops are held periodically at the The Aux. Taykir said the office space will be a meeting place for coaching, mentoring and networking that entrepreneurs need to grow their businesses. 'Social capital is just as important; you need professionals around you. You may not know a lawyer who works with small businesses. You may not know an insurance agent who works with small businesses, and so we help them build that professional social capital as well.'
Yahoo
06-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
ICE and THP operation a ‘targeting of Black and Brown motorists in Nashville,' Metro Council member says
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — Metro Councilmembers representing South Nashville are responding to Sunday's 'public safety operation,' saying the traffic stops are an example of racial profiling designed to instill fear in the community. 'These are our neighbors. These are our small business owners. These are our laborers. These are people who help to make Nashville what it is, and to see our federal government constantly attacking some of the most vulnerable people in our community, is beyond infuriating,' Metro Council member Jeff Preptit told News 2. Metro Councilmember Prepti said the operation is a 'direct targeting of Black and Brown motorists' and poses a threat to the American Dream. PREVIOUS: Immigrant rights groups report ICE activity in Nashville While the Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP) says their operation was based on data involving serious crashes and gang-related activity, Metro Council member Ginny Welsch says she believes the traffic stops were pretextual and aimed toward a specific group. 'This is the lowest hanging fruit that you can look at someone and on the outside decide there's a good chance they might be X, Y, or Z, and we're going to take this action against them. It's unconstitutional, it's immoral, it's unconscionable, and it cannot be accepted or tolerated in a civil society,' Welsch told News 2. Sunday's operation comes just one day before the Trump administration rolled out a plan to offer undocumented immigrants $1,000 if they self-deport. ⏩ 'It's designed to be shocking and frightening so that people will remove themselves from situations, maybe self deport…It's designed to put fear in people's lives and to let people know that the big hand of the government can come down and snatch your life away from you in a heartbeat,' Welsch added. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
04-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Chicago coalition rallies against Trump's agenda, advocating for immigrant rights
CHICAGO – The group 'Chicago's Coalition Against the Trump Agenda' concluded their May Day week of action with a unity march. On Saturday, dozens made their way to Chicago's Union Park, wanting their message to be heard by those in the White House. President Trump discusses first 100 days of his second term 'We need to come together and fight back,' Faayani Aboma, member of the Chicago Alliance Against Racism and Political Oppression, said. 'So on Thursday, we stood with the Consejo de Resistencia, on May Day, to march for immigrants' rights. Yesterday, our coalition was a part of student walkouts across the city and high schools, colleges and universities, and today we're holding a Black and Brown unity march. Ultimately, we know that the Trump agenda is attacking all of our communities.' May Day is celebrated annually on May 1 and a major demonstration in Chicago was held on that day. Since then, demonstrations have been held across the globe. This year, marches and protests have been mainly focused on President Trump's policies. President Trump recently marked 100 days in office. Recent immigration arrests at courthouses around the country have advocates worried 'A lot of people are having their visas revoked that they lawfully got, and then other people have been left in limbo for a really long time about their immigration status and have been sued as a political pawn,' Aboma said. Those gathered at Union Park on Saturday spoke out against mass deportations and the war in Gaza. 'This is a time for a call to action. This is the beginning of massive mobilizations until we have people over profit,' Ald. Bryon Sigcho-Lopez (25th Ward) said. Sigcho-Lopez spoke at Saturday's rally and said the next step is to take this message to the state capitol. Read more: Latest Chicago news and headlines 'We got to mobilize on to Springfield. We're going to be there on May 8 with a delegation from my community to talk about the needs in our city,' Sigcho-Lopez said. The group marched from Union Park through the West Loop Saturday afternoon. The coalition said they will continue to make their voices heard in the weeks ahead. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
