On October 2, 2024, the Franchise Player and Morehouse College presented the The Scrimmage masterclass to bring experts and industry leaders to discuss the secrets to success, challenges, and opportunities in franchising.

About The Franchise Scrimmage Masterclass and exhibit at Morehouse

The Franchise Scrimmage is a premium masterclass and exhibit geared towards getting more minorities in franchising.

At the event, employees, students, faculty, or invited guests participated in sessions from franchisees, lawyers, business development officers, and operation managers.

Keynote speaker

Irfaan Lalani (CEO and Co-Founder of Vibe Restaurants, which owns Whataburger, Wingstop and Little Caesar’s) served as the Guest of Honor and Keynote Speaker for this year’s Fireside Chat.

Fireside Chat

In a mini-tradeshow format, attendees explored products and services from various vendors — which included representatives from leading brands like Cinnabon, Carvel, Auntie Anne’s, Jamba, Moe’s Southwest Grill, McAlister’s Deli, Schlotzsky’s, Sambazon, Chick N Max, and more. The brands provided detailed insights into their franchising opportunities.

Technology innovation

In addition, technology company, Orchatect, showcased innovative solutions that support and streamline franchise operations.

Discussions

The event featured discussions with industry heavyweights including Jerome Johnson (Multi-Unit Franchisee, Dunkin’/Baskin Robbins/Sonic), Randy Hazelton (Concessionaire/Franchisee, Little Azio Pizza, Fresh to Order), Isom Lowman (Multi-Unit Franchisee, The Athletes Foot), and Phillip Scotton (Multi-Unit Franchisee, Ben & Jerry’s/Starbucks).

Founder

The Scrimmage Franchise Masterclass is spearheaded by Tarji Carter, the Founder and President of The Franchise Player. Carter created The Franchise Player to increase franchise ownership within the black community.

Her goal is to provide a clear path to ownership for aspiring franchisees with franchise brands committed to fostering inclusive and diverse environments and providing a sense of belonging.

Check out some highlights below.

The Franchise Scrimmage Highlights

Cissy Houston, beloved soul and gospel singer and mother to Whitney Houston, has died.

She was 91.

Cissy Houston dies at 91

Houston, a two-time Grammy winner, passed away at her home earlier this morning in New Jersey, according to her daughter-in-law Pat Houston. Houston, who was surrounded by her family, was under hospice care for Alzheimer’s disease.

“Our hearts are filled with pain and sadness. We loss the matriarch of our family,” the family shared in a statement.

“Mother Cissy has been a strong and towering figure in our lives. A woman of deep faith and conviction, who cared greatly about family, ministry, and community. Her more than seven-decade career in music and entertainment will remain at the forefront of our hearts.”

Music career

Born as Emily Drinkard on September 30, 1933 in Newark, N.J., Houston started performing in church at an early age, singing with her family’s gospel act before getting into in popular music in the 1960s as a member of the group The Sweet Inspirations with Doris Troy and her niece Dee Dee Warwick. The group sang backup for a variety of soul singers including Lou Rawls, The Drifters, and Otis Redding. They also sang backup for Dionne Warwick, who is also Houston’s neice.

Houston’s many credits included Franklin’s “Think” and ”(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman,” Van Morrison’s “Brown Eyed Girl” and Dusty Springfield’s “Son of a Preacher Man.” The Sweet Inspirations had their own top 20 single with the soul-rock “Sweet Inspiration”.

Houston was one of the top in-demand studio session singers and recorded more than 600 songs in multiple genres throughout her career. Her vocals can be heard on tracks alongside a wide range of artists including Luther Vandross, Beyoncé, Donny Hathaway, Jimi Hendrix, Chaka Khan, Roberta Flack, Paul Simon, and her daughter Whitney Houston.

She inspired the youth

Cissy love her hometown of Newark and often spent much time there, presiding for decades over the Youth Inspirational Choir at Newark’s New Hope Baptist Church and was also the church’s musical director, where Whitney Houston sang as a child.

Cissy Houston and Whitney Houston

When she was not directing the youth choir, she was guiding her daughter’s music career.

Whitney Houston made her debut on national television when she and Cissy Houston sang a medley of Franklin hits on “The Merv Griffin Show”.

They would later sing together often in concert and appeared in the 1996 film “The Preacher’s Wife.” Cissy also appeared in the video for one of Whitney’s biggest songs from the mid-1980s, “Greatest Love of All.” The video was filmed as a mother-daughter homage.

Whitney would predecease her mother in 2012 at 48 years old, when she was found unconscious in a bathtub at the Beverly Hills hotel over Grammy weekend.

Several years later in 2015, her granddaughter, Bobbi Kristina, passed away at only 22 years old from similar circumstances like her mother. She was found unconscious in a bathtub causing her to be put on life support before she passed.

Life for Cissy Houston

After her daughter’a death, Cissy wrote a book entitled Remembering Whitney, detailing her life in New Jersey while also honoring her daughter’s legacy.

Gilda Rogers interviews Cissy Houston

Cissy Houston was briefly married to Freddie Garland in the 1950s and had one son, Gary Garland. Garland was a guard for the Denver Nuggets and later sang on many of Whitney Houston’s tours. Cissy Houston then married Whitney’s father, entertainment executive John Russell Houston, from 1959-1990. In addition to Whitney, the Houstons also had a son named Michael.

Cissy Houston was the youngest of eight children of a factory worker and a housewife. She was just 5 when she and three siblings founded the Drinkard Singers, a gospel group that lasted 30 years, performing on the same bill as Mahalia Jackson among others and releasing the 1959 album “A Joyful Noise.”

Oprah Winfrey Network’s ”Love & Marriage Detroit” is set to return for an all-new season beginning Saturday, September 7 at 9/8c, immediately following the season finale of “Love & Marriage: Huntsville” at 8/7c.

Love & Marriage Detroit

Following a group of African American couples with deep ties to the reemerging city of Detroit, “Love & Marriage: Detroit” features Russell and Kolby Harris, Brandon and Kristina Bowman Smith, and Anthony and Dr. LaToya Thompson. The couples are determined to thrive in their community and are focused on building the best lives possible for their families.

In an emotional new season, Kristina re-evaluates her marriage to Brandon and restarts her singing career, Kolby and Russell clash over the possibility of having another child, while LaToya struggles to balance her work as a doctor and wine entrepreneur and family as a wife to Anthony. Meanwhile, two new couples, the Dobines and the Samuels, threaten to shake up the group’s dynamics.

Catch up with the Harrises, the Smiths and the Thompsons:

RUSSELL & KOLBY HARRIS

Russell and Kolby Harris have been married for four years and have a young daughter together.

The Harrises (Photo Credit: OWN)

At the beginning of the season, the couple are expecting their second child and Russell is already talking about the possibility of having a third, but Kolby, who only wanted one child, is having trouble getting through to her husband that she may have a different vision of the future. Kolby also feels she carries the burden of being the stricter parent when Russell doesn’t discipline their young daughter. Russell continues to work as a pastor and runs his non-profit, Soar Detroit, which focuses on literacy and sports, all while working to revitalize a newly purchased gym. Kolby is a rising social media influencer, but being pregnant and caring for their two-year-old is taking up most of her energy in recent months.

BRANDON & KRISTINA BOWMAN-SMITH

Brandon and Kristina Bowman-Smith have been married for 12 years and have two young daughters.

The Smiths (Photo Credit: OWN)

When the new season begins, Brandon and Kristina’s marriage is on shaky ground and the couple reveals that they have separated. Kristina, a stylist and influencer in Detroit who has devoted the last decade to raising their children, needs to decide what her life as a single mother looks like. Brandon is the owner of Star Factory, an artist development program, where he trains young people of Detroit with a dream to become singers and recording artists. Many of the couple’s marital woes stem from Brandon’s focus on his profession and the hours spent away from home. After a break-in at the Star Factory, will Brandon and Kristina realize they need each other to pick up the pieces in their business and marriage? Will the couple be able to resolve their differences to keep their family together?

ANTHONY & DR. LATOYA THOMPSON

Anthony and Dr. LaToya Thompson have been married for 15 years and share two sons and a daughter.

The Thompsons (Photo Credit: OWN)

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Anthony works for a touring company and owns a production studio. LaToya is still the main breadwinner as a successful physical therapist and the owner of Opulence Wines, but Anthony still doesn’t like to admit this. Despite LaToya’s professional accolades, she is evaluating her work/life balance and struggles with mommy’s guilt. She is also coming to terms with her perfectionism and worries if she is passing this burden on to her children. In the new season, Anthony expands his work with the men’s organization he founded where the goal is for men to have an outlet to discuss relationships and life.

Love & Marriage: Detroit new couples

MARCEL & KIMBERLY DOBINE

Marcel and Kimberly Dobine have been married for 8 years and share two young children.

Kimberly is an event planner, designer and founder of the Posh & Popular brand, while Marcel works in the mortgage industry.

The couple are working on their communication, with Kimberly feeling she needs Marcel to talk through their issues and family dynamics more openly.

They also realize they are in an incredibly hectic chapter in their lives and need to make a better effort to set aside time for just the two of them.

Marcel and Kim are good friends with the Thompsons and are friendly with the Harrises. But Kimberly has a more complicated past with Kristina, with whom she had a friendship several years ago which fizzled away when Kimberly felt Kristina was not a person she could count on. Will Kimberly and Kristina’s fractured friendship create a divide in the friend group?

BRAVO & LAKEITA SAMUELS

First introduced in season one with a larger presence in the new season, Bravo and Lakeita Samuels are high school sweethearts who have been together for 20 years and married for six. Together, they have two daughters.

As a social service manager and managing their home, Lakeita wishes Bravo was more present in their household. Bravo is a successful hospitality entrepreneur who owns several clubs and restaurants around Detroit, but Lakeita is struggling over Bravo’s frequent late nights. Bravo just wants Lakeita to understand that he is working so hard to build their family legacy and secure their financial security.

How to watch

The all-new season of begins Saturday, September 7 at 9/8c, immediately following the season finale of “Love & Marriage: Huntsville” at 8/7c.

“Love & Marriage: Detroit” will then move to its regular time slot of 8/7c on Saturdays beginning September 14.

For more information, please visit the series page.