Latest news with #Mr.D
The Citizen
7 days ago
- Business
- The Citizen
Scooter means stability for Standerton resident
Bafana Mahlangu has conquered one of the community's most pressing issues: unemployment. He is a born and raised Standerton resident who graduated from Jandrell Secondary School during the height of the Covid-19 restrictions, due to which, he experienced a difficult start to his adult life. 'I thought I would attend college after school and get a job, but I was left in the dust and could not get a spot at any college,' said Mahlangu. Without qualifications or experience, applying for positions was difficult, forcing him to take a gap year. In 2022, he reluctantly applied for a learnership with the National Youth Development Agency and was accepted into the Start Your Own Business course. 'At that stage, I was willing to do anything for work,' said Mahlangu. ALSO READ: Political tension stalls Eendracht sewer project He has no children but lives with family and is their sole breadwinner. Mahlangu was finally given a scooter after a lengthy application process and reapplication. After being congratulated, he and seven other learners received their scooters and drove off into a brighter future. 'I remember thinking that this scooter would open many doors for me and my future,' said Mahlangu. He is now one of the friendly faces you see when ordering for delivery on the Mr. D app. The scooter has helped him gain the confidence to start a delivery business. 'I still cannot believe how good God is. He gave me this chance and I want to use it to the fullest,' said Mahlangu.
Cision Canada
09-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Cision Canada
GAMETV/Paramount+ in Canada miniseries Hate the Player: The Ben Johnson Story taps Andrew "King Bach" Bachelor, Mark McKinney (Superstore), Karen Robinson (Schitt's Creek) and Ennis Esmer (Blindspot) to join cast
Social media star and actor Andrew Bachelor, better known as King Bach, who has amassed an ever-growing following of more than 70 million across various social media platforms, is taking on the role of famed U.S. sprinter Carl Lewis, opposite the previously announced series star Shamier Anderson, who plays Ben Johnson. Most recently, Bachelor has also starred in Netflix comedy Coffee and Kareem, alongside Taraji P. Henson, Ed Helms and Betty Gilpin, Netflix horror The Babysitter: Killer Queen with Jenna Ortega and Netflix romcom Holidate with Emma Roberts and Kristin Chenoweth. "As someone who grew up surrounded by the sport of track and field, it's truly in my blood. My father was a sprinter in Jamaica, and he passed down to me not just his speed, but his passion and deep understanding of the sport. I had the honor of running track for Florida State University, where we won nationals three years in a row. Carl Lewis was a hero of mine – not just because of his dominance, but because he excelled in multiple events, just like I did," said Andrew Bachelor. "The rivalry between Ben Johnson and Carl Lewis is one of the most iconic in sports history. To be a part of bringing that story to life is an incredible honour and a full-circle moment for me." Mark McKinney, performer, writer and producer of some of the most groundbreaking television made in North America, including Kids in the Hall, will recur in the role of lawyer Walter F. Essanpee in Hate the Player: The Ben Johnson Story. Meanwhile, SAG and Canadian Screen Award winner Karen Robinson (Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent, Schitt's Creek) is playing Ben's beloved mom, Gloria, with three-time Canadian Screen Award Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Ennis Esmer (New Metric Media's Children Ruin Everything, The Madness) portraying Ben's doctor Jamie Astaphan. Kristian Bruun (The Recruit, Orphan Black) joins the cast as Ben's coach Charlie Francis and Malaika Hennie Hamadi (New Metric Media's Bria Mack Gets A Life) as intern Khara. Rounding out the supporting cast is a cavalcade of Canadian comedy talent including Ryan Belleville (Workin' Moms), Darryl Hinds (Second City), Lisa Horner (Kim's Convenience), Emma Hunter (Mr. D, Letterkenny), Suresh John (Mr. D, Last Frontier), Jonathan Langdon (M. Knight Shyamalan's Trap), Gita Miller (Workin' Moms), Andrew Phung (Kim's Convenience, Run the Burbs) and Dewshane Williams (Hello Tomorrow). The miniseries has also lined up several fun cameos, including appearances by WWE star Chelsea Green and Canadian NASCAR driver Amber Balcaen. Hate the Player: The Ben Johnson Story is Canadian sprinter Johnson's definitely-not-biased account of the doping controversy that rocked the 1988 Olympics when he tested positive for banned steroid use, going from hero to zero in 9.79 seconds in what some called "The Dirtiest Race in History". The series takes a revealing and satirical look at the events surrounding the legendary race and the scandal behind the scandal. New Metric Media identified and put the project together, entering development on the series with Paramount+ in Canada in 2023. The series is created by BAFTA-winning and Emmy-nominated writer Anthony Q. Farrell (The Office, Shelved, Run the Burbs), who serves as showrunner and Executive Producer. New Metric Media CEO Mark Montefiore (Letterkenny, Shoresy, Children Ruin Everything) and director R.T. Thorne will also executive produce, alongside Anderson and Stephan James for Bay Mills Studio. Lana Maclin and Max Wolfond serve as Producer and Supervising Producer, respectively, for New Metric. Thorne (The Porter) and Cory Bowles (Trailer Park Boys) are set to direct. Set to debut on GameTV and Paramount+ in Canada simultaneously in early 2026, Hate the Player: The Ben Johnson Story is being produced with participation from Ben Johnson and is inspired by extensive research conducted by Canadian author and journalist, Mary Ormsby. New Metric Media is distributing the miniseries internationally. ABOUT NEW METRIC MEDIA Based in Toronto, New Metric Media is an award-winning independent entertainment studio specializing in building comedy brands across TV production, live entertainment, distribution, merchandising and licensing. Recipient of Playback's 2022 Production Company of the Year award and the Banff World Media Festival's 2018 Innovative Producer Award, the company's slate of programming includes the hit Crave/Hulu original comedy Letterkenny, the Crave/Hulu Letterkenny spinoff series Shoresy, the CTV/CW/Roku half-hour comedy Children Ruin Everything and half-hour Crave comedy series Bria Mack Gets a Life. New Metric's Letterkenny, Bria Mack Gets A Life and Children Ruin Everything have each been named Best Comedy Series by the Canadian Screen Awards in recent years. New Metric Media is recognized as a leader in 360-degree brand marketing and its success with Letterkenny and Shoresy off-screen extensions, including beer, collectible merchandise, the sold-out Letterkenny Live stage show and the Shoresy Fall Classic hockey event, set to land in five NHL arenas later this year. ABOUT BAY MILLS STUDIOS Bay Mills is a cutting-edge production company founded by actors, producers, and brothers, Shamier Anderson and Golden Globe Nominee Stephan James. Bay Mills is focused on showcasing an eclectic and inclusive lineup of diverse stories from feature films, scripted and unscripted TV, short-form, digital media, and a panoply of other platform-agnostic content. Shamier and Stephan combine their creative expertise and ability to engage global audiences to create groundbreaking content that pushes the boundaries, all while being rooted in entertainment. ABOUT GAMETV GameTV is a Canadian channel specializing in game-related programming such as game shows, competition-based shows, reality series and movies. The channel is available in over 6+ million homes in digital basic on IPTV, cable and satellite systems throughout the territory. GameTV is a subsidiary of Anthem Sports & Entertainment Corp., a leading global sports media company. Follow GameTV on @GameTVCanada on X and Instagram @gametvnetwork. ABOUT ANTHEM SPORTS &ENTERTAINMENT INC. Anthem Sports & Entertainment Inc. is a global multi-platform media company that owns and operates sports and entertainment brands that super-serve passionate communities. Anthem's Entertainment Group includes AXS TV, the ultimate destination for music; HDNET MOVIES and Hollywood Suite, which each boast expansive film libraries packed with iconic classics and modern favorites; and GameTV, featuring popular game shows and competition-based series. Anthem's Sports Group owns iconic wrestling promotion TNA Wrestling; the all-female MMA organization Invicta Fighting Championships; Fight Network, the world's premier combat sports channel; and the North American sports hub Game+. For more information, visit ABOUT PARAMOUNT+ Paramount+ is a global digital subscription video streaming service from Paramount that features a mountain of premium entertainment for audiences of all ages. Internationally, the streaming service features an expansive library of original series, hit shows and popular movies across every genre from world-renowned brands and production studios, including SHOWTIME®, BET, CBS, Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon, Paramount Pictures and the Smithsonian Channel™, in addition to a robust offering of premier local content. The service is currently live in Australia, Austria, Canada, the Caribbean, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latin America, Switzerland, the U.K. and the U.S.
Yahoo
11-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
When Covid hit Black Americans hard, too many white Americans shrugged
'Doc, I'm really scared. Everyone's calling out sick. I've been wearing a mask, but I had to go to work. I'm around so many people every day.' This was my patient, Mr. D. He was a 48-year-old Black subway worker with a medical history of diabetes and high blood pressure. It was March 2020. A deadly pandemic was spreading across the U.S., and Mr. D. was in my urgent care center in Brooklyn complaining of cold symptoms. What started as a trickle of patients in that urgent care center turned into a flood within weeks. I'd arrive for my 12-hour shift long before the clinic's doors opened at 8 a.m. to find a line of masked patients waiting to be seen. The most common symptoms were headaches, nasal congestion, cough and, in more severe cases, fever and shortness of breath. On most days, I saw more than a hundred patients per shift, including a few very sick ones who were too scared to seek care at New York City's overcrowded and understaffed emergency rooms. One thing became obvious: My patients were getting browner and browner. Many were essential workers like Mr. D, and many had chronic diseases. As a health equity advocate, I knew that systemic inequities, including racism, shaped our health. What I was witnessing in New York was happening across the country in areas with high populations of Black residents. By early April 2020, just weeks after stay-at-home orders were instituted, data emerged showing that Black people in nearly every state had higher Covid-19 infection rates and higher death rates. This trend was seen in hot spots like Michigan, Illinois, North Carolina, South Carolina and New York. The higher rates of infection and death weren't the result of anything Black people had done to make ourselves sick; they were an example of how systemic racism plays out in our lives — affecting, among other things, what jobs we have, where we live and our access to care. White families whose children attended my children's public school in New York fled to their second homes upstate or to other parts of the country. In neighborhoods across the city, many white New Yorkers cleared out, leaving Black and brown New Yorkers to fend for themselves and become disproportionately infected by Covid-19. On my days off, I'd run past Brooklyn Hospital and see rows of large white morgue trucks, full of the bodies of New Yorkers whose lives had already been claimed, including one of my beloved neighbors, a kind elderly Black man. It felt like the twilight zone. I worked tirelessly in the urgent care center and took note of reports of Americans in other parts of the country who vacationed, partied and attended crowded county fairs. As statistics showed the virus was having a more destructive impact on people who looked like me, a resounding message from much of white America was: 'Not my problem.' Many Americans — some inside the medical establishment — have long believed the myths that Black people are biologically different: that we have thicker skin and a higher pain tolerance, that our kidneys and lungs function differently, and in the early days of the pandemic, that belief was expressed in white people generally taking fewer precautions against the virus than Black people did. For example, from April to early June 2020, Black, Latinx and Asian Americans were more likely to wear masks in response to the coronavirus. White men were the least likely to wear masks during the same period. A 2022 study published in Social Science & Medicine found that white Americans surveyed in fall 2020 cared less about the pandemic and were even less likely to follow safety precautions after learning about the disproportionate impacts Covid-19 had on Black communities. The researchers found that white Americans who believed there were greater racial disparities in Covid-19 were less fearful of the disease and less likely to support safety precautions. In contrast, those white Americans who acknowledged the structural causes of these disparities were more fearful and supportive of safety measures. However, understanding why and how racism impacted Black Americans' health made white Americans less empathetic. Can you believe that? Contagious diseases require an all-hands-on-deck approach. No public health strategy works without all parts of the system working together. If everyone is not on board, then there are gaps, and people get infected, sick and die. When the pandemic hit, I was reminded of the concept of 'ubuntu.' A simple yet profound concept that dates back to 19th-century South Africa, it means, 'I am because we are.' Ubuntu stresses the importance of community and the interconnectedness of all human beings. The late Archbishop Desmond Tutu drew on the concept of ubuntu to lead South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which helped South Africa reckon with its history of apartheid. Maybe if the U.S. had reckoned with its racist history the way South Africa did, white Americans in April 2020 would have acknowledged the interconnectedness of all Americans and wouldn't have believed the pandemic's high toll in Black communities meant they wouldn't be affected. These assumptions — that it's 'not my problem' — are dangerous, not just because they deny the humanity of Black people and our suffering, but because a lack of ubuntu leads to greater harm to everybody. As the months passed, I saw Covid-19 continue to spread, no longer doing disproportionate damage to communities of color. It wasn't just a Black problem anymore, or a Latinx problem, or an Asian problem. It was everyone's problem, as it always had been. But by then, too many lives had been lost, too many communities devastated, and too much suffering had gone unnoticed until it was no longer avoidable. Sadly, we were unable to follow up with Mr. D. Despite our clinic's attempts to reach him, including multiple calls, there was no response. He was among a number of patients we had been unable to contact during those chaotic days, despite our best efforts to reconnect and provide the necessary support. The pandemic showed us how fragile our individual safety is in the face of collective harm, but it also revealed how deeply embedded systemic racism is in every corner of our society. It was the chronic conditions, the lack of access to health care, the unsafe working environments — all exacerbated by years of neglect and inequality — that turned a containable virus into a death sentence for so many. The pandemic was a wake-up call. It should have been a moment for collective reckoning. But even now, five years later, I wonder: Has white America learned anything from this? Will it confront the structures of inequality and racism that made the pandemic's impact so much worse for Black communities and other communities of color? Or will it go back to pretending that it is isolated, that the suffering of others is not its concern? This article was originally published on
