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Black man found hanging in Alabama
David Steward Is Now Said To Be The Richest Black Man In America With An Estimated $11.4B Net Worth
What Trump has actually done for Black Americans
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — The FBI is investigating the death of a Black man in Alabama, who was found hanging in an abandoned house, following a request from a local sheriff amid fears among community members who accuse local law enforcement of longstanding, unchecked misconduct.
Sheriff’s deputies found Dennoriss Richardson, 39, in September in a rural part of Colbert County, miles away from his home in Sheffield, a city of approximately 10,000 people near the Tennessee River.
The Colbert County Sheriff’s Office ruled Richardson’s death a suicide. But Richardson’s wife, Leigh Richardson, has said that is not true, explaining her husband did not leave a note and had no connection to the house where he was found.
Instead, the 40-year-old fears her husband’s death was related to a lawsuit he filed against the local police department in February. Dennoriss Richardson, who coached kids in baseball and football, had alleged he was assaulted, denied medical attention, sprayed with tear gas and shocked with a Taser while in jail.
Leigh Richardson said she is not accusing a specific person but is adamant her husband didn’t kill himself.
She is not alone in her belief. Widespread skepticism about Richardson’s death underscores deep-seated distrust of local law enforcement in Colbert County. In a region where hanging invokes a long history of state-sanctioned lynchings for Black people, residents in the county allege a pattern of excessive force among local law enforcement.
Sheriff Eric Balentine, who confirmed the FBI accepted his request to investigate, said his department “exhausted all resources” in its investigation.
“We feel confident in what our findings were, but we feel like by doing this we can give the family more peace of mind,” Balentine said.
A spokesperson for the FBI’s field office in Birmingham confirmed the FBI is aware of Dennoriss Richardson’s death and is reviewing the allegations of criminal misconduct.
Tori Bailey, the president of the local NAACP chapter and the only Black member of the six-person county commission in Colbert County, said the community’s reaction to Richardson’s death was partially informed by the region’s harrowing history with lynchings.
In Alabama, there were 359 reported lynchings between 1877 and 1943, according to the Equal Justice Initiative, a criminal justice reform nonprofit. In Colbert County alone, there were 11.
Bailey said, although there may be nothing to these accusations, it makes sense the community would have a “visceral” reaction to a Black man hanging and want a more thorough investigation. She said while some officers are trying to do the right thing, in her 12 years as NAACP president she has documented and investigated many cases of excessive force in the county.
“There has long been a kind of disconnect between communities of color and law enforcement. Unfortunately, many of us do not feel that law enforcement is actually there to serve and protect,” Bailey said.
Marvin Long, a 57-year-old Black man and lifelong Colbert County resident, knew Dennoriss Richardson’s family well growing up. He shares the skepticism about the suicide ruling and said Richardson’s death has intensified his fear of retaliation.
What Trump has actually done for Black Americans
David Steward Is Now Said To Be The Richest Black Man In America With An Estimated $11.4B Net Worth
What Trump has actually done for Black Americans
“I have done more for Black Americans than anybody with the possible exception of Abraham Lincoln,” Donald Trump has claimed on multiple occasions. “Nobody can dispute it.”
Well, lots of people have examined his record and drawn a dramatically different conclusion. Here’s what they have found.
The economic recovery from the Great Recession that started under the Obama administration continued during the first three years of Trump’s presidency, benefiting Black as well as white Americans. In 2019, Black unemployment fell to 5.9 percent, a historic low.
That same year, the poverty rate for all Americans plummeted to 10.5 percent, the lowest since 1959. The rate for Blacks, who comprised 13.2 percent of the population and 23.8 percent of America’s poor, however, remained stubbornly high at 18.8 percent, in part because the Trump administration tightened eligibility requirements for food stamps. Jobs held by Blacks were still concentrated in industries offering lower pay, inadequate health insurance and sick leave, and fewer opportunities to move up.
Touted by the Trump administration, “Opportunity Zones” failed to benefit Blacks living in low income and undercapitalized neighborhoods, with most of the funds subsidizing high-end apartment buildings, hotels and student housing. And regulations issued by the Department of Housing and Urban Development made it more difficult for Blacks to prove discrimination in housing.
Trump’s botched response to the pandemic fell disproportionately on Black Americans. Holding one out of every six “essential” front-line jobs (in health care, grocery, public transit and warehousing sectors), they were at higher risk of exposure and severe disease. 40 percent of Black-owned small businesses shuttered during the early months of the pandemic. In May 2020, Black unemployment reached 16.8 percent.
As the Trump administration worked to undermine Obamacare — cutting in half the enrollment period, slashing the advertising budget for the ACA by 90 percent, ending federal appropriations to reduce deductibles and out-of-pocket medical expenses — the number of Americans without health insurance increased by 3 million between 2017 and 2020, many of them Black. Blacks were six times more likely than whites to be denied hospital treatment, and their death rate was twice that for whites.
In many areas, the Biden administration has delivered more for Black Americans than the Trump administration did. When the peak pandemic period (April 2020 to October 2021) is excluded, Black unemployment averaged 5.86 percent under Biden and 6.65 percent under Trump. Black homeownership averaged 42.2 percent under Trump and 45.4 percent under Biden. Black labor force participation was higher under Biden. Contrary to false claims by some Republicans, take-home pay adjusted for inflation rose three times faster for Black workers when Biden was president. The percentage of Blacks without health insurance fell while Biden has been president, hitting a record low in 2022 of under 10 percent.
The First Step Act, claimed by Trump as one of his signature achievements, was designed to help rehabilitate incarcerated Americans and reduce recidivism. Trump’s Department of Justice, however, tried to set higher standards for and freeze applications from those seeking early release. Thus far, the program has had a negligible effect on the prison population.
Trump opposed renewal of the Voting Rights Act and continues to support restrictions on voting access that affect millions of Black citizens, including an end to mail-in ballots, a return to one-day in-person voting and a requirement for an ID that one out of every 10 Americans say they do not have or cannot readily produce.
Most important, perhaps, Trump has trafficked in race-based stereotypes for decades. In 1989, after a brutal assault on a jogger in Manhattan’s Central Park, he took out full-page ads demanding the death penalty for the five Black and Hispanic teenagers accused of committing the crime. Although DNA evidence and the confession of a convicted rapist and murderer resulted in their exoneration and release from jail in 2002, Trump has doubled down. “The police doing the original investigation say they were guilty,” he declared in 2016. “The fact that the case was settled with so much evidence against them is outrageous.” Trump repeated this claim in 2019.
Trump also spread the lie that Barack Obama was born in Kenya. In 2018, Trump derided immigrants from Haiti, El Salvador, Africa and other “s—hole countries,” while expressing a strong preference for encouraging Norwegians to come to the U.S. In 2020, after the murder of George Floyd, he wanted the military to “crack skulls” and “beat the f—” out of protesters demanding social justice. “Can you just shoot them?” he asked Attorney General Bill Barr and Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. When Barr and Milley pushed back, Trump said, “Just shoot them in the legs or something.”
David Steward Is Now Said To Be The Richest Black Man In America With An Estimated $11.4B Net Worth
David Steward Is Now Said To Be The Richest Black Man In America With An Estimated $11.4B Net Worth
David Steward Is Now Said To Be The Richest Black Man In America With An Estimated $11.4B Net Worth
Written by Cliche
David Steward is the richest Black man in America.
Forbes has released their annual Forbes 400 list, a definitive ranking of the country’s richest people. Featured individuals had to earn at least $3.3 billion, which was an increase of $400 million from the year prior. In total, the net worths totaled $5.4 trillion, which was a $1 trillion increase from 2023.
Among the listed individuals is Steward, who is tied for No. 84 with a net worth of $11.4 billion. Steward leads World Wide Technology, an IT management company, as the founder and chairman.
He launched the company in 1990 and today it has become a solution provider for over 80 Fortune 100 companies, its website states. Some of its partners include Cisco, NVIDIA, Verizon and the federal government.
“Our expertise in AI, cloud, networking, cybersecurity, data analytics, automation, digital transformation and more allows us to deliver groundbreaking solutions that redefine businesses, revolutionize industries, transform communities and exceed expectations. We don’t just envision a better future — we create it,” a statement on the company website reads.
What’s more, World Wide Technology is earning over $20 billion annually and $6 billion internationally.
Steward credits his success to being raised in the land of opportunity.
“The breadth and depth of opportunities we have here, coupled with a culture that allows you to be all you can be, makes it possible for anyone to be successful,” said the 73-year-old billionaire businessman, according to the Horatio Alger Association. “We have a competitive edge over other countries, and it is important for us to preserve that. It’s great that my story is only one of millions in America. I feel blessed to live in this great country.”
Also landing on the Forbes 400 list, earning spot No. 88 is Robert F. Smith, with a net worth of $10.8 billion.
As AFROTECH™ previously mentioned, Smith was a former chemical engineer who desired to be on the other side of the equation, eventually forging the launch of Vista Equity Partners in 2000. The private equity firm now has over $100 billion in assets and most recently acquired Smartsheet, an enterprise platform for modern work management, in collaboration with investment management company Blackstone for a reported $8.4 billion. The deal aims to close by Jan. 31, 2025.
TikTok star arrested in Texas after therapist’s body was found murdered and wrapped in a tarp
TikTok star arrested in Texas after therapist’s body was found murdered and wrapped in a tarp
David Steward Is Now Said To Be The Richest Black Man In America With An Estimated $11.4B Net Worth
A TikTok star known to his followers as Mr Prada has been arrested in Texas following the gruesome murder of a therapist some 400 miles away in Louisiana.
Terryon Ishmael Thomas was wanted on charges of aggravated criminal damage to property, resisting an officer, and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle following the death of William Nicholas Abraham, 69.
The 20-year-old, who has an online following of 8.2 million people, was reportedly caught driving along in the victim’s vehicle – a black Lincoln MKZ – in Dallas, days after Abraham’s body was found. He was arrested after initially refusing to pull over.
Thomas allegedly backed the car into the police unit before speeding away through a traffic light, crashing the car and getting away from police, according to an arrest warrant.
'It’s absolutely horrific'
TikTok star arrested in Texas after therapist’s body was found murdered and wrapped in a tarp
Rich Homie Quan Died From Accidental Drug Overdose, Including Fentanyl
Police say it was Cruz Rubio's sister who was the last to talk to her late that afternoon. She was calling her to confirm what would have been her surprise birthday party.
With the help of a lock smith, the family got into her home and found her dead.
Sgt. Bryan Hoskin of the Glendale Police Department says officers found Cruz Rubio under a blanket with multiple stab wounds on her body.
"The 9-1-1 caller stated a family member was inside the house, was deceased, and that the victim’s head had been cut off," Sgt. Hoskin said.
Officers noticed the shower was still running, and a bloody kitchen knife was in the sink.
Her sister told officers her burgundy GMC Yukon she gave to Cruz Rubio to use was missing. FOX 10 obtained video of the SUV captured by a neighbor’s Ring video leaving the home in the late afternoon.
When police found the SUV and Gonzalez, they reportedly saw injuries on his hands and arms, and blood on his clothes.
Rich Homie Quan Died From Accidental Drug Overdose, Including Fentanyl
TikTok star arrested in Texas after therapist’s body was found murdered and wrapped in a tarp
Rich Homie Quan Died From Accidental Drug Overdose, Including Fentanyl
Rich Homie Quan died from a toxic mix of several different drugs, including fentanyl ... TMZ has learned.
According to the Fulton County Medical Examiner in Georgia, the late rapper died from the combined effects of fentanyl, alprazolam, codeine and promethazine ... and his death is being ruled an accident.
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