Live Nation wants the artists to have a choice. In a statement released by the company’s CEO — and obtained by Revolt TV — it was revealed that the concert promoter is leaving the onus on the artists, themselves, to issue a vaccine mandate at their concerts. “It has been great to see events make such a strong return across the U.S., with demand for concerts and festivals continuing to outpace expectations,” wrote CEO Michael Rapino, in the announcement. “We are working to ensure we are reopening in the best way possible for staff, artists, crew, fans, and communities at large. Our teams have worked together to put new processes in place so artists doing shows with Live Nation in the U.S. can require all attendees and staff to be fully vaccinated or show a negative test result for entry where permitted by law. We know people are eager to return to live events, and we hope these measures encourage even more people to get vaccinated. That is the number one thing anyone can do to take...

Things aren’t looking good for minority-owned small businesses — yet. According to a new report released by Alignable, 53 percent of all minority-owned small businesses couldn’t afford to pay their April 2021 rent. The poll was conducted by Alignable, and surveyed 8,943 small businesses from March 27 to April 5. What they revealed, was that covering the rent remains a major obstacle for nearly one-third (31 percent) of all small business owners in the United States. But for minorities, that percentage is much higher: 53 percent of minority-owned SMBs could not afford to pay their full rent on time. Last month, 67 percent of all minority-owned small businesses couldn’t afford to pay their rent on time. So, while the number has certainly improved, it hasn’t done so by much, and once again, Black business owners are getting the short end of the proverbial stick. The fact that more than half of minority-owned businesses can’t pay their rent also indicates that the PPP (Payment...

Coronavirus vaccine trials are underway and the presidents of two prominent HBCUs are urging you to participate. In a letter published in The Advocate , the presidents of Dillard and Xavier University — Walter M. Kimbrough and C. Reynold Verret, respectively — explain that they are already participating in the Ochsner Health System’s current vaccine trial. During the study, they have each been injected with the experimental vaccine and are “monitoring and reporting any symptoms and side effects.” Currently, they are both well. Given the devastation of COVID-19 on the Black community, Kimbrough and Verret urge students, faculty, staff, and other HBCU institutions to volunteer in one of the many trials in order for the vaccines to be understood among a diverse group. In short, they want the medicine to work for Black people just as well as it will for others. “Today, there are many regulations in place to assure the ethical execution of medical studies, including oversight by human...

By this point, the economic effects of the coronavirus aren’t news. If anything, there’s been so much coverage surrounding the topic that it’s hard to ascertain the right thing to do. From job loss to quarantine retail therapy, you may feel like your financial life has been in a tailspin since March. So we put together this post offering several simple steps to help you navigate the coronavirus outbreak and the havoc it may have wreaked on your personal finances. 1. Cut spending When lockdown first went into effect, many of us thought we’d be spending dramatically less — after all, quarantine means we can’t blow our paychecks (or blow off steam) at the local bar or take a luxurious vacation. And while certain types of spending are down, others have risen — including money spent on video streaming, food delivery, gaming, and alcohol, according to a New York Times analysis of data from Earnest Research . If you find yourself with less disposable income these days, it’s important to...

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Minority Health (OMH) is partnering with the Morehouse School of Medicine (MSM) to fight the coronavirus in minority communities. According to a press release , HHS has granted MSM $40 million for The National Infrastructure for Mitigating the Impact of COVID-19, a three-year initiative designed as a response to racial inequities in healthcare. The aim is to work with community-based organizations to deliver information, healthcare, testing, and other resources to residents in communities “hardest hit by the pandemic.” Additionally, new joint efforts by both institutions will strengthen the strategies by which this data is passed. “Underlying social determinants of health and disparate burdens of chronic medical conditions are contributing to worse COVID-19-related outcomes in minority and socially vulnerable communities, and this partnership with Morehouse School of Medicine is essential to improving our overall...

On Feb. 14, 2020, Africa recorded its first confirmed COVID-19 case in Egypt. According to the World Health Organization (WHO ), the virus reached the continent via travelers from Asia, Europe, and the U.S. As of last week, WHO reports that cases in Africa have risen to over 30,000 with nearly 1,400 deaths. While some doctors saw Africa as nothing more than a testing lab for COVID-19 vaccines, citizens of Africa have honed their intelligence and innovation to create inventions that aid in the reduction of the virus within their continent. Check out these three Africa-based inventions that are contributing to COVID-19 solutions. RESPIRE-19 Portable Ventilator According to Face2Face Africa , Usman Dalhatu, a 20-year-old mechanical engineer student at Ahmadu Bello University in Nigeria, invented and built a local ventilator. With the help of his partners, Dr. Yunusa Muhammad Garba of the Human Anatomy Department, Gombe State University, and Aliyu Hassan, a graduate of Mechatronics...

It’s no secret that COVID-19 has been disproportionately impacting the Black community. However, pediatric surgeon, Ala Stanford, not only began to worry about the death toll of African Americans in the Philadelphia area, according to NPR , but she took action. “In Philadelphia, African Americans represent 44 percent of the population, but at last check, 52 percent of the deaths, for me, that was unacceptable,” Stanford told NPR. As a native of North Philly, Dr. Stanford heads a medical consulting firm and private practice in Jenkintown, PA. She is also on staff at Abington-Jefferson Health. Dr. Stanford’s worries grew as the death toll continued to rise, and the myth that Black people were resistant to the COVID-19 virus continued to circulate throughout the Black community. She posted a video in an attempt to debunk the myth where she explains how the historical mistrust of the medical field should not deter Black communities from practicing safety guidelines such as proper...

Eighteen-year-old Kehlin “King” Farooq II had one wish for his birthday — to supply the masses with hand sanitizer. The aspiring engineer is the founder and creator of GermAtize , a hand sanitizer company located in Houston, TX. Farooq’s idea to create a hand sanitizer came about in 2019 after his mother, a pharmacist, began to have early conversations with her colleagues about the coronavirus. Not even a full calendar year later, COVID-19 has made its way to the United States, leading stores to quickly sell out of much-needed necessities, including hand sanitizer. Observing the lack of hand sanitizer, Farooq approached his dad and explained his idea of developing his own hand sanitizer product. His father reached out to a friend who owns a laboratory, and the rest is history. GermAtize is now a reality. According to its website, GermAtize is a hand sanitizer and soap that kills 99.9 percent of germs in 30 seconds or less. Check out how Farooq’s father took to his Twitter to spread...