♦Beyonce and Tina Knowles' House of Dereon is being Accused of RICO and Sued for Half a Milli
Beyonce and Tina Knowles' companies are being sued by a Hong Kong Manufacturer, Vier International, LTD. Vier claims that House of Dereon and other affiliated companies are in breach of contract and also accusing them of RICO. In case you're not familiar with RICO, Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, it is normally affiliated with the mafia and their business tactics. [Bossip]

♦A Black Girl's Journey in the Making Towards Success
Before Oprah there was Madame CJ Walker, who proved that there is no greater force then a black girl on the grind, pushing to make her mark in a world where rules are few and many. How far would you go? [Clutch Magazine]

♦Dockers Giveaway Enter Online to Instantly Win a Free Pair of Pants
For the next seven days you can enter one time a day for a chance to win a pair of Docker pants on their website. The advertising campaign rolled out yesterday on the Super Bowl commercials where they were advertising to go to their website to get a pair of free pants. [Best Syndication]

True or False: Diddy Wants To Open A Biz School
Diddy's definitely all about his benjamins. Still not content with his current entertainment, liquor, fragrance and fashion empire, the Bad Boy entrepreneur now has his sights set on launching a business academy in New York. [Bossip]

AIG Bonuses In 2010 Total $100 Million
American International Group Inc. is set to pay out about $100 million in a fresh round of bonuses to employees of its financial products division, the unit whose risky bets helped sink the company leading to a $180 billion government bailout, according to reports published Tuesday. [Huffington Post]

January U.S. Private-Sector Jobs Fell by 22,000, ADP Says
The labor market showed positive signs of recovering in January. Private-sector jobs in the U.S. fell by 22,000 in January, the smallest drop since February 2008, and service jobs continued to rise, according to a national employment report published Wednesday by payroll giant Automatic Data Processing Inc. and consultancy Macroeconomic Advisers. [Wall Street Journal]

Burger King Probes Black's Claim of White Worker Spitting
A Burger King spokeswoman says the fast-food chain is investigating allegations that a white employee in a northwestern Pennsylvania restaurant spat on a black man's food. [The Network Journal]


TheGrio's 100: Tony Hansberry, whiz-kid considered 'the next Charles Drew'
The hysterectomy is one of the most invasive surgical procedures in medical practice. Imagine a technique that could do delicate post-surgery stitch work with minimized chances of complications or harm. Sounds like something a seasoned physician developed, but it's actually something a 15-year-old high school student named Tony Hansberry invented. People in his hometown of Jacksonville, Florida are calling him the "next Charles Drew." [Grio.com]

What's going on around the Web in the world of black business and beyond? Click below for the top business news links:

♦Stars cover 'We Are the World' for Haiti
The charity anthem "We Are the World" has been rerecorded by 80 artists who came together in the same Hollywood studio where the original was cut 25 years ago. Pink, Natalie Cole, Kanye West, Jennifer Hudson, Celine Dion, Brian Wilson and others stood shoulder-to-shoulder on risers at Henson Recording studios Monday night to raise money for Haiti earthquake relief. [Grio]

♦Apple Secretly Working On A Second, Less Disappointing Tablet
By now, we've all seen the iPad and know just about everything about it that we possibly can. But did you know that the secretive company may actually be hard at work on a second device already? ...And this one may be much more like a Mac than an iPhone. [Business Insider]

♦Lack of "excellent" coffee blends: Consumer Reports
After tasting 37 different blended coffees, Consumer Reports couldn't find one that measured up to its "excellent" or "very good" ratings, the publication said Tuesday. [Yahoo News]

♦Group Accuses General Larry Platt of Stealing 'Pants On The Ground'
After hearing General Larry Platt's homemade song 'Pants On The Ground' asserting young men everywhere to pull up their pants, millions of Americans became fans of the 62-year-old civil rights veteran. Now after being bum rushed with American Idol fame, someone is calling out the General as a fraud. [Hip Hop Wired]

♦Gates Makes $10 Billion Vaccines Pledge
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will donate $10 billion over the next decade to research new vaccines and bring them to the world's poorest countries, the Microsoft co-founder and his wife said Friday. [The Huffington Post]

♦Lottery Winner's Body Found Under Concrete in Florida???
Remember the convicted felon who won the lottery in '06 and recently went missing? Florida police deputies are claiming to have found the remains of his body. [Bossip]

♦Wages and Benefits Rise Weak 1.5 Percent in 2009
Wages and benefits paid to U.S. workers posted a modest gain in the fourth quarter, ending a year in which recession-battered workers saw their compensation rise by the smallest amount on records going back more than a quarter-century. [The Network Journal]

♦Is Adam Dell Padma Lakshmi's Baby Daddy?
Ever since Top Chef host Padma Lakshmi announced she was pregnant last fall and declined to name the unborn baby's father, the public has been speculating about who it could be. Today, the New York Post is identifying the baby daddy as Adam Dell, a venture capitalist and Columbia Business School professor whose brother is none other than Michael Dell of DELL computers. [Zimbio]

Camille Cosby, Ed.D., is a champion of today's black community whose contributions to cultural excellence you might not recognize right away. This is not because of the lack of impact or the number of her achievements. Dr. Cosby's subtle influence on black America is due to the direct and human way that she seeks to positively influence others. Projects such as funding higher education and producing uplifting film and theater projects keep her behind the scenes, much like a nurturing mother's quiet love. Cosby's dedication to supporting the African American community is just as strong. The National Visionary Leadership Project (NVLP), another extension of her supportive efforts, is an organization founded by Cosby to connect young people in the black community with other elders like her who seek to inspire youth through direct contact with wise high achievers.

On Thursday, Jan. 28, from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., Cosby led a panel sponsored by NVLP, called Vision to Visionaries: Women Empowered, which took place at Spelman College with a simultaneous Web cast on the NVLP Web site. This groundbreaking panel discussion featured legendary actress and activist Ruby Dee, television's Jasmine Guy, Olympic gold medalist Jackie Joyner-Kersee and poet and professor Sonia Sanchez. By bringing these great women into the hallowed halls of a historically black college, Cosby helped to ensure the implementation of the NVLP's mission: connecting the African American leaders of tomorrow with our rich past through real people who have done great things.

Cosby took some time to tell BlackVoices.com more about her goals for positively influencing our young people on the eve of the Vision to Visionaries panel.

Tell us about your organization, The National Visionary Leadership Project. What led you to found the organization and what are its primary goals?

We focus on collecting the oral histories of African Americans who are at least 70 years old. The reason why I wanted to do this is because in the '90s I was involved in a fantastic project. I co-produced a Broadway play about Sadie and Bessie, Delany who were two African American centenarian sisters. What I witnessed in terms of viewing the audience is that people really do have a deep need to feel connected to history and to people who have led long lives. Because of those long lives, elders have all kinds of experiences that can be shared and lessons to be taught, particularly the lessons that defeats don't have to defeat you psychologically and how to achieve victories without arrogance.

In this nation of ours, which is so focused on ageism, people are afraid to be old, yet I also don't see much respect for the young. In addition, I started the NVLP because there is such a need to be not only aware of our histories but also aware of the value of life and the value of valuing one's self. Plus, there is the value of valuing others.

In your panel, Vision to Visionaries, we aim to provide wisdom to female leaders of tomorrow. What areas of growth do you think young women need to focus on?

I know that young women, as well as middle-age women, are always worried about balancing careers and their personal lives. I want to focus on what the panelists have to impart about their respective experiences. I just mentioned the issues of dealing graciously with defeats and victories. I want to focus on those themes as well, because clearly the panelists have felt defeat but have not been defeated psychologically. They still had the desire and the will to pursue their goals. I want them to also talk about the value of family and their experiences pertaining to family and balancing their families with careers. I also want to get into the issues of repetitive images pertaining to self-perception. There are so many negative repetitive images, particularly related to black people, people of color and females.

Dr. Farrah Gray became a self-made millionaire by the age of 14, after working for himself at age 6. Motivated to work toward wealth at a young age after seeing his mother struggling in dire financial circumstances, Gray went on to create a number of successful companies while in his teens. Not content with material wealth alone, Gray has put that same caring compassion he felt for his mom to use in service for others. Now 25 years old, Gray is not only a businessman, but also a community leader who contributes to many philanthropic organizations while leading his own foundation. The Farrah Gray Foundation helps young people learn the same skills that helped Gray achieve success through career coaching and granting scholarships. Gray also enjoys sharing his practical advice as a sought-after public speaker and through popular business books such as 'Get Real, Get Rich' and 'Reallionaire.'

Gray happily took time out of his busy schedule to talk to Black Voices about his ideas on wealth building, how to work best with your God-given talents and why Kwanzaa beats out Black History Month as the best time of year for celebrating African American identity.

Your books 'Get Real, Get Rich,' 'The Truth Shall Make You Rich' and 'Reallionaire' have been commercially successful and praised by the publishing industry. Do the books have a unifying theme of wealth building?

Look at someone like William Bud Post, who won the Pennsylvania lottery for $16 million and now lives off his social security. When you are not self-made and you don't understand what it takes to be a bona fide success, then you have a shallow success. That's pretty much the theme when I say "get real, get rich." Living up to your God-given potential. Finding your area of excellence.

I had a guy call me who was 75 years old. He cursed me out. He said, "Farrah, I've been working hard all my life. You say it's all about hard work. I want to know why do you have money and I'm broke? I've been working hard all my bleeping life!"


I said, "You've never heard me say it's all about hard work. I think it's about hard work, yes, but it's also about finding your area of excellence, what God put you here to do." I said, "The richest place in the world is the cemetery. It's not where you find the gold and the diamonds. It's where you find people who have died and taken their natural God-given talents with them. The two most important things I think that happen in a person's life are when we are born and when we find out why we were born. What did God put you here to do?" And he interrupted me and said, "I know what God put me here to do! I'm a singer." So I said, "Okay, then sing." So he started to sing. I listened. I said, "Sir, you ain't a singer. That is not what God put you here to do."

So I encouraged him. I said, "Ask yourself three questions. Then the marketplace will open up to you, your gifts and your talents. First question: What comes easy to me, but harder to other people? Second question: What would I do for work for years and years and never have to get paid for it? Third question: How can I be of service, and how can I give back? I said once you've been able to wrap those things around what you do and your life purpose, the world and the market will open up for you, your gifts and your talents." The guy called me later and told me that he became a painter and was selling his paintings for almost $5,000. So that's the general theme. Who are you? And what are you here to do?

And then take that journey. Be the next you, because everybody else is taken. Much of what you hear from me and many individuals is common sense. It's just not common practice. We have to start putting certain elements into practice.

What is the best piece of personal finance advice you have for middle-class families struggling in the current economy?

I think, at this time, looking at the conditions we are in, if you have a whole family unit, I think that someone hopefully needs to work if they can. And I think that someone needs to practically do the entrepreneurial thing. Have a balance in the house. I think that would be a perfect combination. That way, you know that certain bills are getting paid.

I tell people to find their area of excellence. Some people respond by saying, "I'm ready to quit my [day job] today!" And I say, "Well, no, don't quit today. You need to definitely find some kind of transition from your job." You can't just jump from one thing to another. One of the greats of our time has said it's like a Tarzan thing. He let go of one branch to go to another one, but he did not let go of the first one, until he had the other one.

♦New Jamie Foxx Jawn "Quit Your Job" Is Comedy
Jamie Foxx is back in the studio doing his music thing, but clearly he's blurring the lines between his singing career and his love of comedy because his lyrics are pretty dayumm silly! [Bossip]

♦Apple Tablet Announcement: Everything You Need To Know
Apple CEO Steve Jobs teased out the tablet yesterday in Apple's earnings report, saying he plans on introducing a "major new product" this week. So what's it going to look like? What size will it be? How will people type on it? [Silicon Alley Insider]

♦Disaster in Haiti: Black Professional and Business Groups Rally Behind Haiti
Black professional and business organizations are rallying behind Haiti as the island digs out from the wreckage of a catastrophic earthquake and embarks on what likely will be a long, arduous journey of rebuilding. [The Network Journal]

♦Jobs Tax Credit: Obama Revives Plan For Job Creation
President Barack Obama's push to create jobs includes a new tax credit for small businesses that add employees, an idea that has appeal as the nation struggles with an unemployment rate topping 10 percent. [Huffington Post]