The 44 Percent: Affordable housing, hoops talent at the U, Missy magic

Black hair is inextricably linked to Black identity. It can often feel just as important as the home in which we relax. As a high school kid, I was really into reading The Boondocks’ comic strip and later, watching the Adult Swim TV show. I was learning more about my African lineage and wanted my hair to reflect it, so I grew my afro out as far as it could go. It was a chore to pick it out each morning, but I loved the end result.

During one trip to visit my family in Carol City, I must have bugged an aunt so much about getting my hair braided that she relented and braided my hair. It didn’t hold longer than 24 hours, but it was cool to wear my braids to school the next day. As an Afro-Latino Army brat coming of age, I felt my hair reflected my identity. I would be utterly dismayed if a teacher or administrator told me I couldn’t be at school because of it. I wouldn’t change it for anyone.

As the CROWN Act makes it an illegal to discriminate people based on their hair type, one Black Texas high school student was suspended because of his dreadlocks, which have a special meaning in his family. Florida is known for its freeform locs, braids and hair styles. If that can happen there, it can likely happen here. For people that were displaced from their homeland centuries ago, our hair styles have a different meaning. Respecting our differences in hair as Black people is just as important as respecting our humanity.

INSIDE THE 305

Fort Lauderdale housing complex offers stable homes for homeless, cheap rents for local workers:

South Florida’s housing crisis has had a negative financial impact on countless residents and placed many on the brink of homelessness. A $25 million affordable housing community in Fort Lauderdale wants to better support people facing the crunch with affordable housing rental prices.

A Fort Lauderdale developer and local nonprofit just finished a unique $25 million real estate project to provide discounted apartments for essential area workers struggling with the region’s high cost of housing and homeless people who need stable homes.

Called Seven on Seventh, this recently opened affordable housing community on Seventh Street in the city sits adjacent to Broward Partnership’s Central Homeless Assistance Center.

The project is the result of a seven-year collaboration between Fort Lauderdale developer Green Mills Group and Broward Partnership, a nonprofit working to alleviate homelessness. Half of the 72 apartments are designated for local workers such as teachers and other residents who meet lower-income requirements.

Five-star shooting guard Jalil Bethea picks University of Miami over Kansas, Villanova:

I’m always going to be happy to see a Philly native and prep hoops star get their flowers and Jalil Bethea is the latest to bring his services to the 305. Fresh off of its exciting 2023 Final Four run, the University of Miami is bringing five-star recruit Jalil Bethea into its fold.

The Miami Hurricanes’ historic run to the Final Four last spring continues to pay dividends.

Five-star shooting guard Jalil Bethea, one of the nation’s most coveted Class of 2024 recruits, announced Wednesday that he will attend the University of Miami.

He chose UM over his other two finalists, University of Kansas and Villanova. He announced his commitment live on the 247Sports You Tube channel. Bethea, a Philadelphia-area native, is ranked the No. 7 overall prospect in the 2024 class by 247Sports.

Bethea went on an official visit to Miami in early September, which included attending the UM football team’s 48-33 victory against Texas A&M. He also visited Kansas, LSU, Syracuse, Villanova and Temple.

OUTSIDE THE 305

A Black student was suspended for his hairstyle. The school says it wasn’t discrimination:

Texas high school junior Darryl George received in-school suspension earlier this month because school officials claimed his locs did not meet their dress code standards. The debacle comes shortly after the CROWN Act, protocol designed to protect workers and students against discrimination due to their hair styles, was put in place.

Darryl George, a junior at Barbers Hill High School in Mont Belvieu, received an in-school suspension after he was told his hair fell below his eyebrows and ear lobes. George, 17, wears his hair in thick twisted dreadlocks, tied on top of his head, said his mother, Darresha George.

George served the suspension last week. His mother said he plans to return to the Houston-area school Monday, wearing his dreadlocks in a ponytail, even if he is required to attend an alternative school as a result.

The incident recalls debates over hair discrimination in schools and the workplace and is already testing the state’s newly enacted CROWN Act, which took effect Sept. 1.

HIGH CULTURE

Rap Duo Flyana Boss on Viral Success and Manifesting Another Missy Elliott Collab:

I will admit it: I had no idea what Kanekalon was before I heard rap duo Flyana Boss’ infectious song “You Wish.” The quirky team has gained fans all over social media for their music videos that show them running through Disney World, pizza parlors and other places.

This fun interview discusses how the duo came together and how they manifested getting a feature from living legend Missy Elliott.

Four years ago — before Flyana Boss were running across our TikTok FYPs with their viral hit “You Wish” and rapping about “sugar, spice, Kanekalon, and cinnamon” — the formidable duo were just two ordinary besties living in Los Angeles. But Bobbi LaNea and Folayan, hailing from Detroit and Dallas, respectively, knew they were “a match made in heaven” from the moment they met at LA music college Musicians Institute. “We just loved each other,” LaNea tells POPSUGAR. “We thought each other were funny and talented and we’re like, ‘Oh, this is so cute.’”

After realizing they were bonded by more than just music, Flyana Boss decided to take their friendship to the next level and declared themselves the next big act to run the music game.

“Now, we do everything together,” Folayan says. This includes molding their imaginative “Flyana Boss universe,” which has skyrocketed in more ways than one.

Where does “The 44 Percent” name come from? Click here to find out how Miami history influenced the newsletter’s title.