British entrepreneur and YouTube star Jamal Edwards has died at the age of 31, his company has told the BBC, but his cause of death has not yet been revealed. He was the founder of SBTV, an online urban music platform that helped launch the careers of artists like Dave, Ed Sheeran, and Skepta. His YouTube channel, which was started in 2006 “on a £20 phone” while he was still at school, has given early exposure to almost every key player in the game including the much-loved Stormzy, Skepta, JME,
NBA Star Jrue Holiday And Olympian Lauren Holiday To Provide $1M In Grants To Black-Owned Businesses
NBA All-Star Jrue Holiday and his wife, who is two-time Olympic gold medalist, Lauren Holiday, are on an admirable mission to help more Black-owned businesses and Black-led nonprofits. In this third round of grant funding, the athletic superstar couple will continue Jrue’s 2019-2020 season commitment where he pledged to donate a portion of his salary to the couple’s organization. Grants will be provided to organizations and small businesses that are located in the Greater Milwaukee, New Orleans, Indianapolis, and Los Angeles areas with priority given to those with a focus on social impact
As its latest diversity report shows, Netflix has made more progress in regards to diversity and inclusion, and according to the report, as of last year, more than half of the Los Gatos company’s global workforce and more than half of its leadership was female. Meanwhile, nearly 11% of its US workforce is Black and about 9% is Hispanic or Latinx — proportions that are significantly higher than those at many other tech companies. All those figures rose significantly in 2021 from the year before, according to the report, and
Black creators say they were excluded from a TikTok event for Black History Month, which featured the self-acclaimed ‘queen of rap’ Nicki Minaj.
Brand will lead the company’s Global People Team and inclusion, diversity, equity, and accessibility initiatives while working with executive management and the Board of Directors to support the company’s strategic direction. She joined the company back in 2018, most recently serving as vice president of People Experience and head of Inclusion and Diversity. Brand has become the second Black woman and third Black C-suite executive at Twitter since the company went public in late 2013. Her promotion is a pretty big deal – given the number of minorities – particularly
Humble Games and the Black Game Developer Fund have announced eight new developers and projects that will receive funding from the initiative. Each development team will receive a portion of the nearly $1 million funds. “The Black Game Developer Fund is all about identifying talented game makers with a passion for their craft and a vision for compelling game concepts, and providing resources and support to help them take the next step on their journey—whether that’s formulating a pitch, fleshing out a prototype, or creating advanced builds,” the BGDF wrote
If you’re interested in supporting Black voices in the gaming industry, look no further than these three titles that are either out now or currently in development. Here POCIT has made a list of three Black developers who’ve created their own video games. Shawn Alexander Shawn is the game designer, animator, visual artist, writer, and founder of Nuchallenger, an independent games and culture studio. Before creating his game – Treachery in Beatdown City – Shawn worked for almost five years at Rockstar games, where he worked on GTA IV Complete,
Lame, TikTok’s second most-followed creator with 130 million followers, has partnered with Hugo Boss to star in a campaign surrounding its re-brand. Lame will also co-design a capsule collection with the fashion label as part of a multi-year pact. BOSS’ Rebrand The iconic brand has drafted supermodels, social media sensations, and world-class athletes for a celebrity campaign designed to usher in a new era for core brand BOSS after nearly 50 years. Lame will appear in the campaign alongside Hailey Bieber, Kendall Jenner, model Joan Smalls, South Korean actor Lee Min-ho, rapper Future, boxer Anthony Joshua, tennis pro Matteo
Virtual cycling platform Zwift has revealed its plans for the second year of its Black Celebration Series with its approach this year being three-pronged. It will focus on Internal education programs, social impact initiatives and celebratory rides all throughout 2022. Last year Zwift first introduced its 12-month series of events that’s intended to celebrate the achievements of Black athletes with group rides led by featured athletes. At the launch Zwift said: “We are creating an inclusive environment that empowers and uplifts the community as a whole.” Zwift is running a
The British Consulate-General in New York has announced the participants in the upcoming UK Black Tech Founders Mission taking place next month in New York City. Twelve unique technology firms, set up by Black entrepreneurs in the UK, will participate in the delegation. The UK founders will also meet with their US counterparts to discuss the differences between scaling a business on each side of the Atlantic and the lived Black entrepreneur experience in the UK & the US. The UK’s flag carrier, British Airways, has partnered with the British Consulate-General in New York to
