Meta Chicago is reportedly set to launch software engineering courses to bring more Black people into tech. The underrepresentation of African Americans in tech has been an issue since the 1970s when the Bay Area became Silicon Valley. And while one can say it’s gotten better, there is still a way to go. In 2018, according to Silicon Valley Bank, only 1% of venture capital dollars went to Black start-up founders, and Black employees made up only 2.8% of Google’s technical roles and 4.8% of their entire workforce. More recently, Twitter reported
Calaxy, a Black-owned web3 social marketplace, has raised $26 million in strategic funding co-led by Animoca Brands and HBAR Foundation with support from Polygon. This raise follows a $7.5 million seed round in 2021 with investors like Animoca Brands, Red Beard Ventures, ArkStream Capital, NGC Ventures, and Genesis Block Ventures. The seed round also had support from NFL player Ezekiel Elliott, “The Bachelor” Matt James, and former PayPal head of Blockchain Strategy Jonathan Padilla, among others. Calaxy aims to build a new infrastructure that allows content creators, ranging from small influencers to big-time celebrities, to
If you search ‘migrants’ on Tiktok, you get a host of videos from desperate individuals trying to secretly enter lorries and being caught out to news about the thousands of young men that have lost their lives trying to make the journey. But some TikTok videos and Instagram accounts that aggregated these videos of sea journeys show before and after footage alongside images of the same migrants walking along well-groomed European streets and posing in front of monuments like the Eiffel Tower. These videos may give the impression to some
Isaac Harvey was recently named Britain’s most influential disabled person on the Power 100 list, and there’s no doubt that he has – and continues – to inspire a generation. Harvey has no arms, a weak pelvis, and scoliosis (curvature of his spine) due to a condition called hypoplasia. He was fostered at two weeks old and later adopted by the same family at the age of five. Though he sometimes experienced discrimination, he never saw himself as different as he has “always just been doing me, and everyone’s different
A young Nigerian has launched a new social media app known as ‘ShapClick,’ a social media platform that aims to take over Facebook, Twitter, and others. The Nigerian app developer, Mohammed Aliyu, boasted that ShapClick would surpass other social media apps because of the installation of more authentication to protect end-to-end encryption of private chat between users and guarantee safety. A spokesman for Aliyu, Mr. Hyacinth Chiweuba, told Vanguard that ShapClick as an indigenous messaging application would enable users to chat and make audio and video calls, including an unrestricted
In times of crisis, it’s especially crucial that governments share accurate, up-to-date information with their citizens and journalists – as social media can play an important role in disseminating urgent information. But we’ve seen time and time again that some leaders have taken liberties to silence their people. Nigeria and Zimbabwe are just examples of countries with governments that have done so in recent years. Back in 2019, Zimbabwe blocked access to social media for seven days as deadly protests swept the country which killed at least 12 people. The government
Klarna was trending on Twitter after the public discovered airlines now allow customers to buy flights on a payment plan and it’s fair to say Black Twitter loved the news. How exactly does it work? Book your stay and pay with Klarna at checkout. The website says “by spreading the cost you can think about upgrading or even staying a bit longer.” Here are some of the community’s reactions after finding out: But it’s important for us to note a few things about Klarna. With ‘buy now pay later’ schemes
“Anyone can make music on their PC now,” laments DJ Sumbody of Ayepyep, Ngwana Daddy and Monate Mpolaye fame. “You don’t have to go to the studio. You get a program, you do beats. If they can master it, it’s a track, it’s out there. It’s simple now.” While preceding genres and music movements have taken advantage of the ready availability of software that can be purchased or digitally cracked to mimic a physical studio, amapiano has been the most radical departure from established and entrenched ways of making, marketing,
Failing to credit Black creators will cost platforms and TikTok is one firm that’s not trying to be a part of that mess – again. The Bytedance-owned app is introducing the first iteration of creator-crediting tools that will enable — and encourage — users to link back to the videos of TikTok creators and trend originators. The new TikTok tools, rolling out over the next few weeks, will let creators directly tag and credit others through a new button in the app. Kudzi Chikumbu, TikTok’s U.S. director of the creator
TW: The following report may be triggering as it details updates on the main suspect of the Buffalo attack. The self-described white supremacist gunman who killed 10 people, all of them Black, at a Buffalo supermarket on Saturday had mounted a GoPro camera to his helmet. He planned to stream his assault live on Twitch, the video game streaming platform used by another shooter in 2019 who killed two people at a synagogue in Halle, Germany. Like others before him, Payton Gendron, 18, the main suspect behind the Buffalo attack, previously outlined his plan
