A significant portion of the Dr. Huey P. Newton Foundation Collection, the largest archive of the Black Panther Party, is set to be digitized and made globally accessible. The pilot project, backed by a $150,000 grant from the Mellon Foundation, will be carried out by Stanford University Libraries. The digitized collection will be available online via SearchWorks, Stanford’s library catalog, and in person at the Black Panther Party Museum in downtown Oakland, California. Preserving History Through Digitization The Dr. Huey P. Newton Foundation Collection, housed at Stanford since 1996, includes
Every UK Black History Month, we shine a light on Black British-owned businesses making a difference. This year’s standout is Frobelles, a UK-based dress-up game championing the beauty of afro hair. Created by mother-daughter duo Yvonne Ottley and 12-year-old Alyssa Ottley, Frobelles has over 100,000 users and recently made its debut in the US. The Birth of Frobelles The idea for Frobelles was sparked by a simple question from Alyssa, who was just six years old at the time: “Why don’t any of my game characters have Afro hair like mine?” This question
In this week’s Techish, Abadesi and Michael dive into Adam Neumann’s latest project, Flow, after WeWork’s dramatic failure, HBO’s ‘Industry’ and its wild look at investment banking, and the outdated idea that men are better coders than women. Also expect reflections on friendship dynamics, new AI tools like Notebook LM, Black Tech Fest highlights, and more. Adam Neumann stays failing upwards (00:00) HBO’s Industry and the wild world of investment banking (05:05) Do men code better? (11:23) Drake is lonely: Navigating friendship dynamics in the industry (16:04) Black Tech Fest
Registered non-profit organization Darkies in Tech has launched a new website designed to drive inclusion by providing a centralized platform for professionals of color within the South African tech industry. Founded by Ntsako Mgiba in February 2021, Darkies in Tech has become the largest vetted community of its kind in South Africa, with over 450 members, including founders, investors, and ecosystem builders. The community has consistently hosted educational and social events aimed at creating a more inclusive environment for Black professionals in tech. Addressing Exclusion in South Africa’s Tech Scene
Former Spice Girl Mel B is backing a new campaign for Unicode to introduce emojis with Black hairstyles. There are over 3,790 emojis available today. However, none feature popular hairstyles Black people wear, like afros, braids, cornrows, or locs. The Campaign for 4 New Emojis The campaign, launched by youth-led nonprofit RISE 365 and Good Relations PR, calls on Unicode to introduce four new emojis that reflect Black hairstyles. Unicode is the organization that decides which emojis are distributed worldwide. RISE 365 tasked its young members with creating the designs.
Brazil’s Supreme Court has lifted its ban on X—formerly known as Twitter—after its owner, Elon Musk, complied with key legal demands. The decision ends a lengthy standoff between Musk and Brazilian authorities. X Returns for Millions of Brazilian Users Brazil is one of X’s largest markets, with an estimated 22 million users. The platform had been suspended in Brazil since August 30 for not blocking accounts that spread false information and failing to appoint a legal representative in Brazil, which is required by law for foreign companies. According to a
Dr. Joyce F. Brown, the first woman and African American president of the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT), will step down at the end of the 2024-2025 academic year. Brown has led FIT, part of the State University of New York (SUNY) system, through 26 years of transformation since her appointment in 1998. Marrying Design and Technology FIT started as a place where European immigrants could learn and refine skills like embroidery, sewing, and tailoring. However, today, FIT is not just about fashion but about “marrying design and technology and
Global music icon Shakira has partnered with Amazon and Code.org, through her non-profit, Fundación Pies Descalzos, to expand computer science education for Hispanic students worldwide. The collaboration will help young people learn to code through an interactive music experience that uses Shakira’s Spanish-language hits and also provide computer science education training to teachers across Colombia. Learning to code through music Shakira has long worked to enhance educational opportunities for underserved communities in Latin America. In celebration of the partnership, Shakira has donated songs like “Amarillo” and “Chantaje” to Code.org’s Music
NBCUniversal and Group Black has launched ExcellencE!, a new content collection on Peacock, bringing thousands of hours of diverse, inclusive programming to the streaming platform. ExcellencE! – Black-Led And Cross-Cultural Content This partnership aims to highlight Black-led and cross-cultural content, making it a key destination for multicultural stories. Subscribers can now access ExcellencE!, which includes popular shows like Bel-Air, Martin, and The Real Housewives of Atlanta. NBCUniversal plans to expand the offering with additional original content in 2025. This launch is part of a broader initiative, expanding on the 2023
This week, Techish hosts Abadesi and Michael talk about the challenges of promoting yourself on social media while staying authentic. They dive into gender norms, entrepreneurship, pricing strategies, and balancing personal vs. business branding—all while navigating the pressures of social media. Promoting yourself on social media (00:00) Zero to a million: How to make (and keep) money as an entrepreneur (09:50) Building a personal vs business brand (17:35) Navigating social media, vulnerability, and business exposure as a woman (21:15) Listen to the episode You can find the Techish podcast on Spotify,
