The Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) joins the list of Black leaders pushing for corporate accountability. Chairwoman Yvette D. Clarke and members of the Congressional Black Caucus’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Task Force met with Target CEO Brian Cornell to discuss the company’s rollback of its DEI efforts, according to a press release. In January, the retailer announced that it would end its three-year DEI goals, conclude its Racial Equity Action and Change (REACH) initiatives by 2025, and discontinue a program focused on carrying more products from Black— or minority-owned businesses. Congressional
Senegalese mobile money platform Wave has secured $137 million in debt financing, led by Rand Merchant Bank, with support from British International Investment (BII), Finnfund, and Norfund, according to TechCabal. The funding will enable the company to expand its operations, allowing it to continue serving underserved communities across Africa. What does Wave do? Founded in 2018 by Drew Durbin and Lincoln Quirk, Wave serves over 20 million monthly active users through a network of more than 150,000 agents and a team of 3,000 employees across eight markets in West Africa.
A group of British Caribbean professionals has launched the Caribbean Tech Collective, an initiative designed to bring together Caribbean founders, professionals, and investors in the tech industry, according to The Voice. The Caribbean Tech Community Only 4% of people in the tech industry identify as Black in the UK, with Africans making up a significant amount of that number. The Voice reported that tech startups receive under 0.1% of global venture capital funding in the Caribbean. In 2023, venture capital investment in Caribbean tech just reached $215 million, and there
Better Auth, an authentication tool, has raised $5 million in seed funding from Peak XV, Y Combinator, P1 Ventures, and Chapter One, according to TechCrunch. Bereket Engida, the self-taught programmer from Ethiopia and founder of the tool has built what some developers believe is that the best authentication tool to date. Engida’s jounrey to building Better Auth Engida told TechCrunch that he had built the entire product in Ethiopia before coming to the US. He started programming at 18 after a friend declined to help him create an e-commerce search
Black Girls Code and haircare brand The Doux have partnered to launch a competition for girls and young women to use AI to create original videos that reflect their self-perception. The Black Beauty AI Challenge is the first of its kind, and competition entries will help shape how AI understands the nuances of Black identity. Teaching AI about Black beauty Participants as young as 13 will have the opportunity to win up to $1,500 in cash prizes, with submissions evaluated by an esteemed panel of judges. “At Black Girls Code,
Tennis star Coco Gauff is building on her partnership with UPS by teaming up with entrepreneur Emma Grede to advise small-business owners. Gauff became a UPS brand partner in 2023. The new campaign, titled “Unlocking Potential,” leads with Grede mentoring three upcoming entrepreneurs — Classy Casita, Petrova Chocolates, and Anima Iris. Grede and Gauff supporting small-business owners The campaign, created by The Martin Agency, begins with an anime-inspired spot featuring the 20-year-old phenom announcing her collaboration with Grede. Then, Grede will meet with the entrepreneurs to offer advice and mentorship.
Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith’s Westbrook Inc., a multimedia and entertainment venture company, is entering the anime world through a strategic partnership with the newly formed Studio Azuki. Studio Azuki, a US-based animation company, is a joint venture between NFT brand Azuki and Japanese firms Comisma Inc. and Xenotoon Inc. The studio aims to merge Web3 technology with anime to create next-gen content for global audiences. The collaboration will combine Studio Azuki’s production skills with Westbrook’s extensive Hollywood network and expertise in global entertainment, as first reported by Variety.
Museums in the West tend to have one thing in common: displaying artifacts from countries that aren’t theirs. Now you can virtually reclaim these artifacts. At the Summer Game Fest in Los Angeles, Nyamakop game studio recently announced the launch of its latest project, Relooted, a side-scrolling puzzle platformer where users can join a group of thieves who reclaim stolen artifacts from Western museums and return them to their respective countries of origin. How do you play Relooted? The game is set in an African Futurism-inspired 21st century, during a time
Desange Kuenihira, a former refugee from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), has been announced as UNHCR’s featured storyteller. After being forced to flee violence in the DRC, she found safety in a UNHCR-supported refugee camp in Uganda. Now, Kuenihira, a graduate of the University of Utah, has resettled in Salt Lake City, Utah, and is the author of Undefeated Woman. This book speaks about her refugee journey. Kuenihira creating unDEfeated In 2020, Kuenihira founded unDEfeated, a nonprofit organization that provides educational and entrepreneurial opportunities for girls and women facing severe financial hardship in
Yelp’s “Black-owned” tag, introduced in 2020 to boost the visibility of Black-owned businesses, led to lower average ratings of Black-owned restaurants in Detroit, a recent study by The Conversation has found. Restaurants tagged as Black-owned received 3.03 stars on average from reviewers aware of the ownership, compared to 3.78 stars from those who were unsure. Increased visibility, but lower ratings The visibility of Black-owned restaurants on Yelp significantly increased following Yelp’s June 2020 edition of the Black-owned tag. A year after the tag was introduced, reviews in Detroit mentioned Black
