For Black Business Month, media personality Sheletta Brundidge surprised five Black women with billboard advertisements for their businesses. August is National Black Business Month, where Americans recognize Black-owned businesses nationwide. Black business owners account for about 10%of U.S. businesses and 30% of all minority-owned businesses. A Harvard Business Review report also found that 17% of Black women are starting or running new businesses, compared to 10% of white women and 15% of white men. Billboard Ads for Black Women’s Businesses Five Black women entrepreneurs, including founders of Soul Grain Granola, Slyvia Williams and Liza Maya, were
Seven former employees are suing Twitter – rebranded as X – alleging that the company’s mass layoffs unfairly impacted employees with protected characteristics, including Black employees. The Lawsuits The complaints were filed in federal court in Oakland, California, after claims that Twitter violated America’s Family Medical Leave Act, the Civil Rights Act and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act. Omolade Ogunsanya is among the seven suing Twitter. According to the lawsuit seen by Rolling Stone, he alleged that his firing was “the product of unlawful race-based discrimination against Black employees.” Ogunsanya worked
Black-owned web3 social marketplace, Calaxy has launched its app, helping creators to monetize their content and connect with their fans. Helping Creators to Monetize Tech entrepreneur Solo Ceesay and NBA player Spencer Dinwiddie founded Calaxy in 2021 to build a new infrastructure allowing content creators ownership and equitable value exchange compared to the current social media landscape. It’s described as reimagining how people use social media, empowering more meaningful and fulfilling fan experiences. Despite the creator economy being one of the fastest-growing sectors of the internet, creators still need help to monetize with the rise of
An AI image creator, Playground AI, gave an Asian MIT graduate blue eyes and lighter skin when she asked it to turn her photo into a professional LinkedIn headshot. Rona Wang, who had majored in computer science at MIT, took to Twitter to share her surprise, adding to online debates about racial biases in generative AI. What happened? The Boston Globe reported that Wang uploaded an image of herself smiling and wearing a red MIT shirt to the platform, asking it to turn the image into a “professional” LinkedIn profile
Acclaimed filmmaker and founder of Array Crew, Ava DuVernay, is collaborating with Oscar-winning filmmakers Brian Grazer and Ron Howard, founders of the Impact network, to create the “largest hiring network” for the entertainment industry. Array Crew In 2021, DuVernay founded Array Crew, a searchable personnel database designed to connect below-the-line crew professionals. The database focuses on amplifying women, people of color and those from underrepresented backgrounds, connecting them with producers, studio executives and department heads. The database has gained the support of major studios and streamers, including Warner Bros.Discovery, Amazon Studios, Apple TV+
GRAMMY Award-winning rapper Lupe Fiasco has collaborated with Google Lab Sessions to develop an experimental AI tool, TextFX. TextFX is an AI-powered tool for rappers, writers, and wordsmiths to enhance their use of lyrical and linguistic techniques. TextFX A play on the acronym for sound effects (SFX), TextFXis an experimental demonstrating how generative language technologies can empower the creativity and workflows of artists and creators. It was created in collaboration with Lupe Fiasco who drew inspiration from the lyrical and linguistic techniques he developed throughout his career. He frequently tinkers
Elon Musk’s X Corp., formerly Twitter Inc.— has sued a nonprofit group, The Center for Countering Digital Hate, over its report describing the extent of hate speech on the social media platform. Led by Imran Ahmed, The Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) aims to protect human rights and civil liberties online The company holds platforms accountable and responsible for their business choices by highlighting their failures, educating the public, and advocating change from media and governments to protect communities. What did the report find? The CCDH report said that Twitter failed to act
New research has shed light on the extent of misogynoir across social media platforms. The study comes from the Digital Misogynoir Report by Glitch, a charity tackling the online abuse of Black women and marginalized people. What is Misogynoir? Misogynoir, a term coined by the queer Black feminist Moya Bailey in 2010, describes the anti-Black racist misogyny that Black women experience. Glitch uses the term to detail the “continued, unchecked, and often violent dehumanization of Black women on social media, as well as through other forms such as algorithmic discrimination.” The charity highlights
Buffalo Massacre Families Sue Meta, Reddit, Discord, Alphabet, And Others For Role In Radicalization
The devastating 2022 Buffalo mass shooting has sparked a legal battle to hold social media companies responsible for their platforms’ role in radicalization. Two lawsuits, launched by the victims’ loved ones, are seeking accountability from tech giants such as Facebook, Reddit, and Alphabet, alleging that the algorithms and content on these platforms contributed to the racist attack that resulted in the deaths of ten Black people. How social media shaped the attack Payton Gendron, an 18-year-old white male, was fueled by white supremacist ideology as he carried out a murderous
Isaac Hayes III has launched Fanbase, a social media platform designed to enable Black creators to cultivate their audiences and monetize their contributions effectively. An often-observed reality in the social media world is the lack of acknowledgment and monetary reward for Black creators, even when they are the originators of significant trends. A notable instance is when the viral TikTok renegade dance was mistakenly attributed to TikToker Charli D’Amelio, overlooking the actual creator, Jalaiah Harmon. Unfortunately, this extends beyond viral dances. From fashion trends and online ideas to music, the
