Rihanna Named National Hero in Barbados as Country Becomes Republic

Nine-time Grammy winner and Fenty Beauty billionaire Rihanna was honored by her home country of Barbados on Monday, the same day the island nation shed its colonial allegiance to Queen Elizabeth II and declared itself a republic.

“On behalf of a grateful nation, but an even prouder people, we therefore present to you the designee for national hero of Barbados, Ambassador Robyn Rihanna Fenty,” Prime Minister Mia Mottley announced at a ceremony celebrating Barbados' presidential inauguration and marking its first day as a republic. “May you continue to shine like a diamond and bring honor to your nation by your words, by your actions, and to do credit wherever you shall go. God bless you, my dear.”

The 33-year-old, who has had the honorary title of Ambassador for Culture and Youth in Barbados since 2018 and was first named one of the Caribbean island country's cultural ambassadors in 2008 — doing promotional work for its tourism ministry — said it was a day she would never forget and never saw coming.

"I have traveled the world and received several awards and recognitions, but nothing, nothing compares to being recognized in the soil that you grew in," she said.

Rihanna, who was born in Saint Michael and raised in Bridgetown where the ceremony took place, before moving to the United States after she was discovered by music producer Evan Rogers, is the 11th person to receive the honor. It had been 20 years since it was last conferred.

The announcement was a high-point of the festivities surrounding Barbados formally cutting ties with the British monarchy after nearly 400 years.

Watch Rihanna's entire speech below:

Georgia Jury Convicts 3 White Men of Ahmaud Arbery Murder

Ahmaud Arbery

Wednesday, following eight days of testimony and two days of deliberation, a jury of nine White women,
two White men and one Black man, delivered guilty verdicts in the trial of three White men who chased and killed Ahmaud Arbery in Glynn County Georgia last year.

The 25-year-old Black man was jogging through the Satilla Shores neighborhood outside Brunswick, Georgia, on Feb. 23, 2020, when Travis McMichael (35) and his father Gregory McMichael (65), grabbed their guns and pursued Arbery in a pickup. Their neighbor William "Roddie" Bryan Jr. (52) later joined the pursuit in his own pickup and ended up recording cellphone video of Travis McMichael fatally shooting Arbery.

The video, which leaked online two months after the killings, was key in the prosecution of the crime in which federal authorities allege the three men chased and killed Arbery because he was black. Prosecutors in the current trial did not argue that racism motivated the killing, but the trio will face federal hate crime charges in a trial scheduled for February.

Following the verdict, outside the courthouse, Ahmaud's father Marcus Arbery Jr., said his son never did anything wrong.

"He didn't do nothing but run, run and dream. He's always been a curious kid. He always wanted to see things," an emotional Arbery Jr. said as he greeted family and supporters with smiles and handshakes. with. "All he wanted to do was run and dream."

Ahmaud Arbery's father Marcus Arbery, who cheered in the courtroom after the first guilty verdict in his son's murder trial:

"I don't want to see no daddy watch their kid get lynched and shot down like that ... Today is a good day." pic.twitter.com/m6zyyQ6j3z

— The Recount (@therecount) November 24, 2021]

Arbery Jr. added, "For real, all lives matter. Not just Black children. We don't want to see nobody go through this. I wouldn't want to see no daddy watch their kid get lynched and shot down like that."

"It's all our problem. So hey, let's keep fighting. Let's keep doing and making this a better place for all human beings."

From left to right, William "Roddie" Bryan, Gregory McMichael and Travis McMichael

The shooter Travis McMichael was convicted of malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault, false imprisonment and criminal attempt to commit a felony. Gregory McMichael and William Bryan were acquitted of malice murder but convicted on the other counts. All three men stood trial for murder because it was determined by the jury that they committed crimes that contributed to Arbery's death.

Malikah Shabazz dead at 56

Malikah Shabazz, who along with her twin sister Malaak, was the youngest of six daughters of civil rights icon Malcolm X and his wife, Betty Shabazz, is dead at 56.

Her daughter found her body inside her residence in Midwood, Brooklyn at about 4:40 p.m. Monday.

New York Police Department Commissioner Dermot Shea said no foul play is suspected, but an autopsy would determine the official cause of death.

“At this point in time, working with other authorities, the medical examiner, and speaking to the family, she had been ill for a period of time, and at this point, nothing appears suspicious,” Shea told PIX11.

The death comes just a week after two men were exonerated for their alleged roles in the 1965 assassination of her father.

Bernice King, the daughter of Martin Luther King Jr., said was deeply saddened by the death of the daughter of her father's contemporary and sometimes critic.

“My heart goes out to her family, the descendants of Dr. Betty Shabazz and Malcolm X. Dr. Shabazz was pregnant with Malikah and her twin sister, Malaak, when Brother Malcolm was assassinated,” she wrote on Twitter. "Be at peace, Malikah."

I’m deeply saddened by the death of #MalikahShabazz. My heart goes out to her family, the descendants of Dr. Betty Shabazz and Malcolm X.

Dr. Shabazz was pregnant with Malikah and her twin sister, Malaak, when Brother Malcolm was assassinated.

Be at peace, Malikah. pic.twitter.com/YOlYoW4xDC

— Be A King (@BerniceKing) November 23, 2021