The 44 Percent: Miami Gardens offers coding for kids, 5000 Role Models, future of sneakers
The late Los Angeles musician and businessman Nipsey Hussle was famous for his sharp business acumen before his 2019 death, but community was at the center of his work.
Hussle saw tech trends and advocated for the Black youth in his community to get access to coding classes so that they could be computer programmers of the future. Even if they did not have the financial means to attend top universities like Stanford or Harvard, he wanted those kids to be successful and even start their own businesses.
What we are seeing in South Florida from the City of Miami Gardens and the Miami Dolphins’ Terron Armstead reflects a similar commitment to building a better tomorrow for Black youth.
Whether it’s about sharing a positive word, constructive criticism, or even showing love when you see someone down the street with a cool pair of sneakers, maintaining a sense of community is what keeps us grounded as Black people around the world.
INSIDE THE 305:
Miami Gardens’ educational development department has a new mission: teach kids to code
Herald race and culture reporter Raisa Habersham wrote about how kids in Miami Gardens are learning how to code thanks to a new after-school program.
The Betty T. Ferguson Center in Miami Gardens was bustling with residents attending evening gym classes or walking around the center’s track.
But down a hallway is a computer lab where about half a dozen children were working on an educational gaming system on a Monday night. One of them, Evan Page, sat in front of his laptop building out a character and then breezed through the levels of the game, learning the programming language Python along the way.
He’s had a growing interest in coding after taking a technology class at his school. “I’m just into coding. I’m also into science as well,” he told the Herald, adding that he hadn’t anticipated that Python would be fairly easy to learn.
‘This is the real impact.’ How Terron Armstead challenges students to be entrepreneurs
Dolphins reporter C. Isaiah Smalls II wrote about how veteran Dolphin player and recent 5000 Role Models inductee Terron Armstead is inspiring local youth to pursue their entrepreneurial dreams with a pitch competition.
Terron Armstead isn’t the stereotypical athlete. He didn’t go to a big school yet was able to carve out a 12-year NFL career.
He doesn’t do the normal athlete pop-up events; he likes to build relationships with the community. And he certainly believes in helping out the next generation.
“I just try to introduce and expose and it really gets their juices going,” Armstead said.
Armstead’s service to the community through his eponymous foundation will culminate with an induction to the 5000 Role Models of Excellence Project, a nonprofit mentorship organization founded by Congresswoman Frederica Wilson.
The sneaker market is in decline. The sneaker convention is adapting to stay current
As a lifelong sneaker lover, this was a story I had more than enough expertise to tell. I wrote about how the sneaker market is in decline, and how events like the recent Fort Lauderdale Sneaker Con are adapting to stay relevant.
On a recent Saturday at a sneaker convention in Fort Lauderdale, Jay Samuels stood behind a table full of Nike and Adidas sneakers he was hoping to sell.
“Hey, $50!” he yelled as he held up a slightly worn pair of Kanye West Yeezys, now relics of a bygone era following the musician’s acrimonious split from Adidas. After failing to attract a buyer, he picked up another shoe and yelled “$100!” People still didn’t bite. Neither pair quickly sold.
Even though it wasn’t long ago that rare sneakers were sold for three times their retail price, the energy at the Samuels’ table at Sneaker Con, a traveling event now in its 15th year, felt more like that of a neighborhood garage sale.
Can Haiti’s gangs help solve the political crisis? Some politicians seem to think so
Haiti and the Caribbean reporter Jacqueline Charles covered how one of Haiti’s infamous gangs may become a part of the country’s future political decisions.
When Jimmy “Barbecue” Chérizier announced on the 221st anniversary of Haiti’s independence that the country’s most powerful gang coalition would soon become a political party, the New Year’s Day announcement by the ex-cop who became a warlord didn’t go unnoticed — but it also didn’t generate the kind of political debate Haitians are used to.
Now it just may.
The powerful gang coalition known as Viv Ansanm — Live Together — which has been launching deadly coordinated attacks all across Port-au-Prince since February of last year, is among several organizations listed on a document sent to the 15-member Caribbean Community bloc that suggests ways the country’s troubled political transition can be saved.
HIGH CULTURE:
LiAngelo Ball signs music deal with Def Jam following popularity of hit song ‘Tweaker’
Associated Press reporter Jonathan Landrum Jr. wrote about the viral rap song that has taken over social media, LiAngelo Ball’s “Tweaker.” The former professional basketball player received a Def Jam record deal just weeks after his song’s debut. Ball, the brother of NBA players Lonzo and LaMelo, is finally getting his time in the spotlight.
LiAngelo Ball is expanding his life playbook, taking a pivot from his hoop dreams to a fresh focus on music with a new record deal.
Ball signed with Def Jam and Universal Music Group, a representative from the label confirmed Monday. He had a brief stint in the NBA and overseas, but he’s created positive waves with his rap debut “Tweaker,” which has gone viral garnering millions of views on social media.
The track, which was released Jan. 3, oozes with nostalgic mid-2000s rap vibes gaining popularity with co-signs popular music figures such as Meek Mill, Lil Yachty and T-Pain. His surging momentum helped earn him an opportunity to perform at Rolling Loud California in March.
Where does “The 44 Percent” name come from? Click here to find out how Miami history influenced the newsletter’s title.
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