July 2024

Lunchbag Linkup returns this September!

Thank you to everyone who registered and made donations so far 🙌🏾

We are making 200 lunches to support Elizabeth's House, Grassroots Crisis Intervention, and Montgomery County Coalition For The Homeless. Please click below to register.

If you can't join us in person, consider making a donation.

You've got something so special, and you are capable of living up to that potential you see for yourself. If you don't see that potential, here is your call-to-action to rise back into yourself. Hell or high water, you're gonna make it. I promise you this.

- We The Urban -

Kickback with family and friends with this refreshing cocktail in your hand during the holiday weekend.

The Firecracker Fizz

1.5 oz aged rum
1.5 oz simple syrup
.5 oz cherry heering
1 oz lemon juice
2 dashes of orange blossom water
Sparkling wine to top

Add all ingredients except sparkling wine to a shaker with ice and shake. Strain into a glass with fresh ice. Top with sparkling wine and garnish with mint.

They Not Like Us: Who else didn’t know Kendrick Lamar’s Ken and Friends Juneteenth concert would be available on Amazon Prime? I had a serious case of FOMO seeing clips online but luckily folks on YouTube looked out for us. You can watch the full show on YouTube. If the link no longer works by the time you click on it, search "Ken and Friends Pop Out" for other videos that may be available (videos have been taken down this week due to copyright infringement). It was definitely a moment for the culture.

Won't You Be My Neighbor: Araba Maze, the radical street librarian, is on a mission to bring free books to kids in book deserts throughout Baltimore. Over the past few years, Maze launched free public book vending machines, pop-up free bookstores, and stoop story times. To continue meeting kids where they are, she is fundraising to raise $100K for a book trolley.

Cuisine For The Culture: Dave Lewis, Jarrette Atkins, and Fritz Georges founded MacroBites, the first national Black-owned ready-to-eat meal service in New Jersey. The trio is on a mission to help rebuild and restore the community. They often use their brick-and-mortar space to provide nutritious meals to the community and as a cornerstone for community engagement. Read their inspiring story here.

Well-Deserved Class: The Hollywood Walk of Fame has announced its 2025 honorees, and among them is Toni Vaz, Hollywood’s pioneering Black stuntwoman and the founder of the NAACP Image Awards!⁠ Here's why she called it the Image Awards and the impressive list of The Hollywood Walk of Fame 2025 class.

Winning Her Way: With the rise in attention to female athletes, Winning Her Way launched at the perfect time. Created by Santia Deck, Winning Her Way is an online platform shining light on the untold stories of female athletes from youth players to seasoned professionals. Consider it your one-stop shop for all things women's sports.

Moving On Up: It was recently announced that the New Orleans Pelicans are promoting executive Swin Cash, a former WNBA star and Naismith Hall of Famer to Senior Vice President of Basketball Operations. This promotion makes her one of the highest-ranking women in an NBA front office.

Buying All Black: Have you ever struggled to find Black-owned businesses when traveling to a new city? The BLAPP shopping app does that work for you, providing a list of Black-owned businesses in local neighborhoods and online.

The End of An Era: Can you imagine watching Wimbledon without seeing one of the Williams sisters? This year marks the first Wimbledon without Venus or Serena since 1996. Yes, you read that right, 1996! Combined, the two have won 12 titles.

Sea Moss has become extremely popular because it provides 92 minerals supporting skin, immune, and gut health.

Created by Alexiou Gibson out of necessity to change his lifestyle, The Transformation Factory offers 23 Sea Moss gels and gummies that are vegan, gluten-free, soy-free, and non-GMO.

Braid My Hair: Dosso Beauty, a Black woman-owned hypoallergenic braiding beauty company founded by Kadidja Dosso, is opening its first brick-and-mortar store and luxury braid salon in Philadelphia. If you experience an itchy scalp from the braiding hair at your local beauty supply store (it's coated in chemicals), I highly recommend switching to Dosso Beauty. I've used the braiding hair for the last two years and love it!

Changing Youth Healthcare: Hafeezah Muhammad, founder and CEO of health technology company Backpack Healthcare, has secured $14 million in Series A funding to revolutionize pediatric mental healthcare with a focus on Medicaid-enrolled youth. Backpack Healthcare ensures all young people facing mental health challenges receive the support they need, regardless of socioeconomic background. The company strategically partners with Medicaid-accepting insurance providers, bridging the gap between limited provider availability and those seeking care.

Project 2025 Is Here: The Supreme Court undercut federal regulations with its 6-3 ruling overturning a 1984 decision colloquially known as Chevron that has instructed lower courts to defer to federal agencies when laws passed by Congress are unclear. The conservative judges are doing exactly what they were appointed to do. So much for checks and balances. AP News breaks down the impact of the ruling here. The SC also ruled that criminalizing people for sleeping outside doesn't violate the 8th Amendment and the ex-president has immunity. If you weren't paying attention before, I hope you are now.

History Repeats Itself: Between the Supreme Court rulings, Project 2025, and the decades-long policies of the Republican party, what we are experiencing is clear now more than ever. Brittany Packnett Cunningham does an excellent breakdown of it all. Please watch; it's so good!

Diversity in Sports Medicine: In its third year partnering alongside the NFL Physicians Society (NFLPS) and the Professional Football Athletic Trainers Society (PFATS), the NFL Diversity in Sports Medicine Pipeline Initiative has matched students across 21 medical schools, including four programs at historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs), with NFL club medical staffs to participate in clinical rotations centered around sports medicine and/or orthopedic surgery for one month.

We Want That Old Thing Back: Online dating apps are ghetto, so millennials and Gen-Z are getting back to how things used to be. A recent report by Eventbrite revealed that 60% of Black Americans surveyed prefer in-person dating because it feels more genuine while 68% enjoy meeting face-to-face. 72% of them want to do something both people on the date enjoy, stressing the importance of shared interest in building genuine connections.

READ: The New Brownies' Book: A Love Letter to Black Families​
​The New Brownies’ Book reimagines the very first publication created for African American children in 1920. Esteemed scholar Karida L. Brown and award-winning artist Charly Palmer have gathered the work of more than fifty contemporary Black artists and writers. The result is a book bursting with essays, poems, photographs, paintings, and short stories reflecting on the joy and depth of the Black experience—an immersive treasure trove that reminds readers of all ages that Black is brilliant, beautiful, and bold.

WATCH: SPRINT​
​If you love Track & Field and the drama of competition, check out this new series on Netflix. Delving deep into the relationships, rivalries, trials, and tribulations among athletes, SPRINT follows the biggest names in the sport as they compete to become global champions in the 100m and 200m.

LISTEN: You Can Make It by Will Smith​
​When was the last time we heard music from Will Smith? He recently released a new song "You Can Make It" featuring singer Fridayy and Sunday Service. He performed it on Sunday at the BET Awards. Check it out on YouTube.

Just because it's taking a long time doesn't mean it's not going to happen.

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