A Parade In Your Honor
For WNBA winning Golden State Valkyries forward Laeticia Amihere, the championship celebration stretched from the Bay Area to her Canadian hometown. The Mississauga native became the second Canadian player to win a WNBA title, then joined her teammates for their victory parade in San Francisco on November 4.
“The parade was amazing, the vibes were high, and so many people came out to celebrate with us,” she told EBONY exclusively. “It was a moment that I will remember for the rest of my life. As a team, we are so happy that we were able to win a championship for Ballhalla because the support they have shown us since the beginning means a lot.”
For Amihere, who is of Ghanaian descent, success also means opening doors for the next generation. The former South Carolina standout and Canadian Olympian founded Back to the Motherland, a nonprofit that creates access to basketball through camps and workshops in Canada and Africa. Her work connects the communities that shaped her with young athletes seeking their own opportunities.
“I was once that kid who wanted to play sports, but my older brothers played sports, and we couldn’t pay for three kids to play sports. Coaches gave me that opportunity, so I just want to pay it back to the community,” she shared in a previous interview.
Karlie Redd and Yandy Smith Put Survivors Center Stage
Karlie Redd brought a deeply personal mission to Atlanta’s Central Library on October 28. Through her nonprofit, Big Heart Foundation, the television personality and entrepreneur presented the second annual Courageous Awards, honoring 15 domestic violence survivors during National Domestic Violence Awareness Month.
Redd joined Yandy Smith, speaker and author Kie Fair, and former Georgia state representative Erica Thomas Adeyemi for an evening centered on survivors’ voices, healing and community support.
Hosted by Lakia Starks, the ceremony included an opening prayer from Pastor Stephanie Jennings of The Harvest Tabernacle Church and a performance by gospel artist Isaac Carree.
For Redd, a domestic violence survivor, the recognition was about making sure others felt seen and supported as they rebuilt their lives.
“I know firsthand that finding the courage to walk away and rebuild your life is not easy,” she shared. “The Courageous Awards is my way of reminding survivors that their pain does not define them, their voices matter, and there is hope and healing on the other side of survival.”
Antwan Tolliver Celebrates a Story of Black Liberation and Disability Justice
Antwan Tolliver attended the closing-night screening of Being Heumann at AFI FEST, held at Hollywood’s TCL Chinese Theatre. In the film, he portrays Brad Lomax, a Black disability rights activist and Black Panther Party member whose organizing helped sustain the historic 1977 Section 504 sit-in in San Francisco.
Lomax helped secure the Panthers’ support for protesters demanding enforcement of federal disability rights protections. Their daily deliveries of meals and supplies helped make the demonstration, which disability rights leader Judy Heumann helped lead, the longest peaceful occupation of a federal building in U.S. history.
His story spotlights the shared history of Black liberation and disability justice, and the community organizing that helped turn demands for equal access into lasting change.
Being Heumann opens in select theaters November 6, then streams globally on Apple TV November 13.