A new report from the President’s Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration and Shorelight Education has found that students from African nations and the Global South are more likely to have visas rejected. What did the report find? The data from the report was collected through public records requests and found that visa denials to study in the U.S. rose significantly from 2015-2022, especially for Global South countries. African students faced a visa rejection rate of over 50% in 2022, up nearly 10% since 2015. The report stated that in 2015,
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
Fearless Fund: VC Fund For WOC Responds To Racial Discrimination Lawsuit From Conservative Activists
Fearless Fund has responded to the lawsuit filed by the American Alliance for Equal Rights (AAER) after it accused them of racial discrimination. What happened? Conservative group American Alliance for Equal Rights, founded by Edward Blum, brought a lawsuit against Fearless Fund, which supports women of color who own small businesses. The lawsuit accuses Fearless Fund of violating Section 1982 of the Civil Rights Act of 1886, which bars racial bias in private contracts, by opening its grant competition to Black women alone. Lawsuits brought by Blum and the conservative group led
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
Libbie Health, an AI-powered app that gives women of color tools to reduce anxiety, was announced the winner of this year’s Make It in Brooklyn pitch contest. Libbie Health The app was founded by behavioral health coach Colette Ellis in 2022 to address racial and cultural disparities in mental health care. It also aims to create positive health outcomes for women, BIPOC, LGBTQ+ and marginalized leaders. Ellis was trained in Emotional-Freedom Technique (EFT) tapping in 2013 and began building it into her client work. “If you’ve ever been in a situation where you smelled
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
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+
Immigrant rights advocates and asylum seekers have filed a lawsuit against Customs and Border Protection (CBP), raising concerns about using the CBP One app. The case highlights that the government’s mandate to schedule appointments with immigration officials via the app exclusively adds further obstacles for asylum seekers coming to the States. CBP One App The CBP One app was launched in October 2020 to streamline the scheduling of immigration appointments for travel. However, in January of this year, President Joe Biden announced his intentions to expand the app’s use to include
Porcha Woodruff, 32, was eight months pregnant when she was arrested after facial recognition technology wrongly identified her as a suspect in a robbery and carjacking. She is the sixth person, all of whom are Black, and the first woman known to be wrongfully arrested due to facial recognition technology. What happened? The New York Times reported that Woodruff was getting her six and 12-year-old daughters ready for school when six police officers arrived at her door. She had been identified as the perpetrator of a robbery and carjacking that had
The ALIVE Podcast Network and Riverside.FM have partnered to launch the Riverside Black Creative HUB – Powered by ALIVE. Drawing on the expertise of both companies, the new platform aims to empower Black creatives to form a community and innovate. The home of Black voices The ALIVE Podcast Network is the first Black-woman-owned podcast network to build its own tech stack with production, distribution, and training to help Black podcast creators monetize, amplify and maintain ownership of their content. “ALIVE is to Podcasting what Tyler Perry Studios is for film
