Queen Latifah plans to put on a hard hat soon once she dives into a multi-million dollar housing investment in her hometown of Newark, New Jersey. NJ.com reports that “20 three-family town homes” and a 76-unit apartment building that’ll offer 16 affordable apartments will be constructed under BlueSugar Corporation, an organization that Latifah is a co-president of, and GonSosa Development.
This news arrives alongside city residents’ push for affordable housing. As noted by NJ.com, Latifah expressed her fondness of her old stomping ground during a speech at Rutgers University, and for the “U.N.I.T.Y.” rapper, the city’s people remains its greatest source of innovation. “Today’s Newark is stirring again, stirring because our greatest export was never a product, it’s always been the people. People like each of you — unique, strong, creative individuals,” she said.
In a statement on the project development, spokesperson Cristina Pinzon said this will assist with the city’s affordable housing sector. “They understand how difficult it is to make ends meet for many residents and want to be part of the solution,” Pinzon said. “They remain dedicated to making life better in communities like Newark.”
In the past months, Latifah announced another project that’ll better the people: the Queen Collective aims to give women behind the scenes of film the chance to have their work appreciated whether that’s through funding or exposure.
“I try to support anything I can in terms of making sure women have an opportunity. That’s just who I am. Before I really knew what a feminist was, I was already helping to promote the feminist cause,” she said to Yahoo! “I was just a 15-year-old rapper. I had no idea that the fact that I wanted to be looked at with respect and treated as such — and that I wrote about that in my rhymes and made records about it that people heard — was really pushing that forward, affecting other young girls and women who felt the same way, and giving other women a voice who felt that they were a little voiceless in hip-hop at that time. Finally, there was someone that was speaking their language.”
