Cochrane Students
Begin Their Investment Journey with PEEP

June 28, 2022

Some of you still may not know that Pride Magazine has a nonprofit arm called PEEP. Founded in 2007, PEEP has relaunched as the Pride Educational Empowerment Program with three foundational pillars: career mentoring, entrepreneurship and wealth creation. The fundamental goal of PEEP is to tackle the wealth gap by eliminating future socio-economic disparities within the African American community.…

NC IDEA – Elevating Black Entrepreneurship

April 29, 2022

By Sonja Whitemon Three Charlotte startup companies were selected to receive grants from NC IDEA, a private foundation committed to supporting entrepreneurial ambition and economic empowerment in North Carolina. The foundation awarded $75,000 grants to seven companies in North Carolina. The recipients of the awards were all companies founded by Black entrepreneurs.…

A Full Plate: Chef Lisa Brooks Cooks Up Faith

April 29, 2022

Photo by Amanda Richardson Photography Story by: Sasha Manley Chef Lisa Brooks, a Charlotte native, is an example of what it means to step out on faith and bet on yourself. Brooks decided to leave corporate life at the age of 40 and get back to doing what she ultimately loved.…

Q & A with Charlotte Mecklenburg Library CEO and Chief Librarian Marcellus Turner

April 29, 2022

Marcellus Turner, or “MT” as he prefers, celebrated his first-year anniversary, last month as the new CEO and chief librarian of the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library system. He’s also a first-time resident of Charlotte. Turner is originally from the Jackson, Mississippi area.…

Real Men Get Manicures and Pedicures

April 29, 2022

By John Burton Jr. Imagine being in a nail salon, receiving your normal service, and two strapping construction workers venture in. They’re not there to meet their significant others but proceed to plop down in chairs at the pedicure station. Subsequently, they peel off their dirt-caked construction boots, then place their feet in the awaiting bubbling foot water bath.…

The Write Brothers Inspire the Next Generation of Leaders

April 29, 2022

By Anders J. Hare These four Black men — Rev. Reggie Tuggle, Dr. Augustus Parker III, Patrick Diamond and Ron Ancrum — didn’t form their writing collective just to tell their individual stories. They wanted to teach readers that no matter where they come from or what their circumstances are, they have the power to accomplish their goals.…

Johnson C. Smith University
Gets New Cycling Program

March 26, 2022

The first women’s cycling programs at a historically Black college, Johnson C. Smith University (JCSU), and at tribal colleges and universities will launch with funding from a three-year grant from Cannondale, EF Pro Cycling, and USA Cycling (USAC). Two tribal schools, the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and Navajo Technical University in Crown Point, New Mexico, are the other grant recipients.…

A Second Helping
Andria Gaskins is a romance novelist and great cook

March 18, 2022

By Lelita Cannon

Andria Gaskins holds many titles — doctor, wife, mother, novelist and culinary artist extraordinaire — to name a few. A graduate of Wake Forest University, Gaskins was proprietor and head physician at Gaskins Chiropractic until 2003 when her first son was born.…

Grier Heights Teen Creates Food Pantries

February 27, 2022

By Sherita Pryer In the beginning of the pandemic, 17-year-old Alexandria Brown was challenged by a local Girl Scout to spend 80 hours making a difference in her community. Brown noticed a consistency with people walking 20 minutes or driving 10 minutes to her nearby convenience store.…

Allegra Westbrooks

February 27, 2022

By Giovanni Samuels Advocate for the Right to Read Allegra Westbrooks was a pioneer in the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library system. She advocated for the Black community’s right to access reading material and developed a strong connection between the community and branches within the system through outreach programs.…