Russell Westbrook is a nine-time NBA All-Star and 2017 MVP — accolades that speak to his skill set. When he isn’t dominating the court, the Denver Nuggets point guard dedicates his time to making a difference through his Why Not? Foundation. Founded in 2012, Westbrook’s foundation strives to lead, impact, and inspire underserved communities. With a focus on education, mental health, and career development, it seeks to bridge socioeconomic gaps and encourage people to believe in themselves and overcome obstacles, according to its website. “I started my foundation strictly based on education initially,” Westbrook told AFROTECH™. “I wanted to expand into other areas that I felt [would] be beneficial for the people, not just in Los Angeles, but globally, with mental health and in the workforce, and obviously keeping education as part of our pillars.”   View this post on Instagram   A post shared by Russell Westbrook Enterprises (@westbrookenterprises) “Why Not?” has been hailed as a...

The Brooklyn Emerging Leaders Academy (BELA) in the Bed-Stuy district of Brooklyn, NY, is an all-girls charter high school who has just made history after announcing that the class of 2021 has a 100 percent college acceptance rate. The Brooklyn Patch is reporting that BELA — as it’s known — released the information as part of its “college shower.” It was the first-of-its-kind, and it celebrated the fact that all 50 of the high school students got accepted into a college or university of some kind. The school gifted the graduates with a “swag bag” filled with necessities like duffel bags, dorm supplies and wireless headphones. And that’s not all. The Brooklyn Emerging Leaders Academy class of 2021 applied to more than 150 different colleges and universities and received nearly $1 million in merit-based scholarships. More than 75 percent of the graduating class are first-generation college students, and 90 percent of the senior class identifies as Black. “Today, you are rewriting...