A new tech startup co-founded by basketball stars aims to ease the burden of funeral planning. Eazewell, an AI-powered platform created by NBA MVP Russell Westbrook, NBA All-Star Kemba Walker, and NCAA champion Donnell Beverly Jr., offers a more compassionate and streamlined alternative to the traditionally complex and costly funeral planning process. A Response to Personal Loss The idea for Eazewell began years ago, after Beverly Jr. and Westbrook suddenly lost their high school teammate and close friend, Khelcey Barrs III. The experience revealed how few resources exist for families
Magic Johnson and Angel Reese have launched Wealth Playbook, a new financial literacy program for high school seniors in Baltimore. The program aims to teach students how to manage money and build long-term wealth. The initiative is a partnership between the Angel Reese Foundation, the Magic Johnson Foundation, and Pull Up Neighbor, a marketing and advertising firm focused on community outreach. Bringing Financial Education to Baltimore Classrooms The four-session program began last week at Saint Frances Academy, Reese’s former high school, in collaboration with wealth management giant Merrill Lynch. In
Black Leaders Detroit has announced the fifth annual Ride for Equity—an ambitious 1,645-mile cycling journey from Tulsa, Oklahoma, to New York City. The multi-state event pays tribute to the legacy of historic Black business districts and will also raise funds to support Black entrepreneurs, BridgeDetroit reports. “We’re riding from Black Wall Street in honor of the legacy of Greenwood,” Dwan Dandridge, founder and CEO of Black Leaders Detroit, told BridgeDetroit. “And we’re going to Wall Street because it’s another place where Black people had a huge hand in creating the
Meta is threatening to shut down Facebook and Instagram in Nigeria after losing a court appeal over $290 million in fines tied to regulatory and data privacy violations, the BBC reports. $290M in fines The showdown began in 2021 when Nigeria’s Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) launched an investigation into WhatsApp’s updated privacy policy. The agency, along with the Nigerian Data Protection Commission (NDPC) and the national advertising regulator, accused Meta of multiple infractions. These include sharing user data without authorization, discriminating against Nigerian users compared to other
ChurchSpace, a Houston-born tech startup that transforms underused church buildings into rentable community spaces, is expanding its mission to the Midwest. The company has announced the relocation of its headquarters to Detroit alongside the close of an oversubscribed $1.2 million funding round. “What we built in Houston was more than technology—it was transformation,” said ChurchSpace Co-Founder and Co-CEO Day Edwards said in a press release. “We expanded our purpose and packaged proven strategies to help churches thrive, transform communities, and even combat food insecurity. Now, with prayer and the support of our team
The Caribbean Venture Collective (CVC) is a new initiative aiming to close the longstanding gap in venture support for founders with ties to the Caribbean. Launched last week by Techstars alumni Daniel Smith and Mita Carriman, the CVC is a global network and founder fellowship program designed to increase visibility and access to capital for the region’s innovators. Venture support for Caribbean founders Trinidad-born Smith is the founder of Keepingly, a platform that helps homeowners manage and store homeownership documents. Carriman, born in New York to parents from Jamaica and
On Tuesday, Forbes released its annual World’s Billionaires list, setting new records in both size and total wealth. Of the 3,028 billionaires on this year’s list, 23 are Black, just 0.8% of the total. Forbes reports that these Black billionaires command a combined net worth of $96.2 billion, with fortunes rooted primarily in finance, energy, and technology. While many familiar faces are present, the rankings have changed a little since the last time we checked in. Notably, Aliko Dangote reclaimed the top spot after being surpassed by David Steward last
Five-year-old Maddox Lopez has earned a spot in Mensa, the world’s largest and oldest high-IQ society, joining the ranks of the top two percent of the population with an IQ of 130 or higher. The New Jersey pre-kindergartener already knows his timetables and has a growing passion for coding and problem-solving, even through computer games, ABC7 New York reports. His achievement follows that of his older sister, Declan, who joined Mensa at age six in late 2023. Learning Starts at Home Their father, Delano Lopez, a health and physical education
Dove has joined a campaign to bring natural and protective Black hairstyles to the emoji keyboard. Partnering with London-based youth nonprofit RISE.365, the brand is calling on the Unicode Consortium to approve four new emoji designs representing afros, braids, cornrows, and locs. The push comes as Unicode prepares to review new emoji proposals this month. The #CodeMyCrown campaign The #CodeMyCrown campaign, backed by global pop star Mel B, is challenging the lack of representation of Black hair among the nearly 4,000 emojis currently available. While over 90 percent of the
Major US tech companies are warning employees on temporary visas not to travel outside the country, fearing they may be denied re-entry amid shifting immigration policies. Tech giants employ thousands of workers on H-1B visas, which allow highly-skilled foreign workers to temporarily live and work in the US. Warnings to H-1B Visa Holders Documents reviewed by The Washington Post show companies like Google and Amazon have advised foreign workers to avoid international travel, fearing sudden policy changes or heightened border scrutiny could leave them stranded overseas. H-1B visa denial rates
