A group of West Michigan Black-led economic development organizations has received a $300,000 state grant to continue serving Black businesses in the area. The West Michigan Black Economic and Business Development Group was established during the COVID-19 pandemic and comprises Grand Rapids Area Black Businesses, Battle Creek-based Sisters in Business, Black Wall Street Kalamazoo, and Black Wall Street Muskegon. The Michigan Economic Development Corp. manages the Trusted Connector Grant program, which gives 23 organizations across the country a total of $6.8 million. A $300,000 grant The $300,000 grant will maintain
Baltimore’s Mayor’s Office of Small and Minority Business Advocacy & Development (SMBA&D) is working with US Black Chambers, Inc. (USBC) to support small, minority, and women-owned businesses. The new partnership will provide these entrepreneurs with access to certification programs, contracting opportunities, and business development support. With 102,000 Black-owned businesses in Maryland, this program will significantly benefit Black-business owners in the area. SMBA&D collaborating with USBC The USBC supports a network of African American Chambers of Commerce and business organizations by providing them with resources and initiatives, and this collaboration will
Nahom Worku, a 21-year-old Ethiopian student at York University, is one of Apple’s Swift Student Challenge winners thanks to his innovative educational application, Access Ed. His app provides students in Ethiopia with consistent internet access, enabling them to utilize educational tools, according to Apple. Worku’s inspiration Growing up in Ethiopia, Worku frequently experienced unreliable internet access and observed the scarcity of quality education among many students. His app, Playground AccessEd, has solutions for both issues. So, he created an application that stores all user data and learning materials locally on
Kisha A. Brown, an award-winning civil rights attorney and speaker, is the founder of Justis Connection, a Black-owned legal tech platform. Justis Connection enables individuals to connect with trusted Black lawyers across various legal practices. It has recently announced its plan to prepare 1,000 Black lawyers ready to serve 1 million Black households across the United States. Black lawyers are still a minority Even though Black people in the US make up 13% of the population, Black lawyers represent approximately 5% of the legal profession, a figure that has remained
Since returning to office in January, President Trump has ramped up efforts to increase the deportation of immigrants, setting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) a goal of arresting at least 3,000 migrants a day. In response, ICE raids have surged across the country. High-profile workplace operations in cities like Los Angeles have led to widespread protests and federal deployments. According to The Independent, demonstrations have erupted in more than 40 cities. Many of the recent detentions involve individuals with no prior criminal record. Immigrants now face the risk of arrest in
The Redemption Holding Company, a Black-led investment group, has completed its acquisition of Utah-based Holladay Bank and Trust, a woman-led bank that’s operated one brand in Salt Lake City since 1974. The acquisition marks the first time a bank has been owned by a Black-led investment group in the Rockies and Mountain West and also the first time Black investors have acquired a white-owned bank. The first Black-owned bank west of Texas The newly formed Redemption Bank will also be the first Black-owned financial institution to be located outside of
The Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC), representing the NAACP, has sent a 60-day Notice of Intent to Sue to Elon Musk’s AI company, xAI, over its unpermitted use of gas turbines at a data center in South Memphis. The letter, dated June 17, alleges that xAI violated federal law by installing dozens of methane gas turbines without the required permits or pollution controls. This notice is a necessary step before filing a lawsuit under the Clean Air Act. “Over the last year, these turbines have pumped out pollution that threatens
Juneteenth commemorates June 19, 1865, the day more than 250,000 enslaved Black people in Galveston, Texas, finally learned that slavery had been abolished – two and a half years after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation. The first Juneteenth was observed in 1866 and has been celebrated by Black Americans for generations before finally being recognized as a federal holiday in 2021. Corporations Pull Support This year, many traditional Juneteenth celebrations are being scaled back or canceled due to declining support for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs, according to AP
The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Black Chamber of Commerce is launching a new Innovation Center to support Black-owned businesses and address food inequality in Charlotte, NC. “Think of it as a one-stop shop for professionals and small businesses,” Cathay Dawkins, a local entrepreneur and chairman of the chamber, told The Charlotte Observer. What is the innovation center? The property, located at 2601 Wilkinson Blvd, near Interstate 77, will feature spaces for business meetings, co-working areas, an agri-tech program to assist farmers in utilizing advanced technology, and a retail store distribution center for small
Khaby Lame has left the US after being briefly detained by immigration agents for allegedly overstaying his visa, according to The Guardian. The TikTok star, whose legal name is Seringe Khabane Lame, was detained on Friday, 6 June, at an airport in Las Vegas. A spokesperson for the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) told the Guardian in a statement that he was released on the same day and has since left the country. Lame had arrived in the US on 30 April and had allegedly overstayed the terms of
