On Sunday, hours after Joe Biden withdrew from the presidental race, thousands of Black women met on Zoom, raising over $1.6 million for Kamala Harris in three hours. Black Women for Kamala Harris Every Sunday at 8:30 p.m. ET for the past four years, Black women have been virtually gathering, strategizing, encouraging, and supporting one another through the collective “Win With Black Women“. This organization, born out of frustration over the treatment of Black women being considered as running mates for then-candidate Joe Biden in 2020, has grown exponentially. On
Black Space Week Roll Call has taken over X, showcasing Black professionals in the space industry, leading them to The White House. Black In Astro Each year, Black In Astro hosts a Black Space Week to celebrate the achievements of Black Americans in space-related fields. The Black In Astro journey began in June 2020, in the wake of a series of violent police attacks against Black Americans. Founded by Ashley Walker, a PhD student at Howard University, Black In Astro was designed to link together a community of Black scientists
In a controversial incident, DBrand, a Canadian tech accessory company known for its social media persona, faced severe backlash after making a racist remark about a customer’s last name. A Joke Taken Too Far? The comment, which was intended to be humorous, was directed at Bhuwan Chitransh, a customer who had complained about the discoloration of a product he had purchased. Chitransh’s initial tweet to DBrand was about a computer skin that changed color only two months after purchase. In a response that was seen as offensive, DBrand tweeted, “Your
AI’s inability to detect signs of depression in social media posts by Black Americans was revealed in a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). This disparity raises concerns about the implications of using AI in healthcare, especially when these models lack data from diverse racial and ethnic groups. The Study The study, conducted by researchers from Penn’s Perelman School of Medicine and its School of Engineering and Applied Science, employed an “off the shelf” AI tool to analyze language in posts from 868 volunteers. These participants, comprising equal
Nicki Minaj fans, Barbz, have created an AI kingdom, Gag City, ahead of the release of the artist’s Pink Friday 2 album. The impressive pink creations have been trending across social media. Barbz turn to AI Gag City is an AI-generated kingdom created by Barbz. The pink alternative universe’s name is a wordplay for “gagged,” a slang to describe something amazing or stunning. After Nicki shared the cover art on her album – with her standing on a pink subway in a pink-tinted city – fans came up with the
Buffalo shooting survivors have filed two lawsuits claiming that YouTube, Reddit and a body armor manufacturer enabled the gunman to kill 10 Black people in a racist attack. The two lawsuits are the latest attempts to hold social media companies accountable for their role in the mass murders. The Buffalo Shooting The 2022 Buffalo mass shooting has sparked a legal battle to hold social media companies responsible for their platforms’ role in radicalization. Earlier this year, two lawsuits were launched by the victims’ loved ones, seeking accountability from tech giants such as
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
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
Following Elon Musk’s announcement to buy Twitter in April 2022, many users, particularly Black users, opposed it. Some have found other platforms, such as Mastodon, Spill, and Bluesky. Bluesky, however, has recently raised some alarm bells after a moderation policy change following a death threat against a Black woman left many questioning the safety of the platform. What is Bluesky? Bluesky is a decentralized social app that started off as a project by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey in 2019 when he was Twitter’s CEO. Dorsey chose Jay Graber to lead
Frequency People is the Black-owned social collaboration platform that lets creators control almost every aspect of the online communities they build. Individual users and businesses can create a public or private community to connect with those with similar interests. Followers can join these communities or networks and choose to pay for access to exclusive content. This means that brands, influencers, artists, and other creatives can seamlessly monetize their followers through ticket sales, ads, subscriptions to exclusive lives, AR content, and NFTs. Atlanta-based duo John York and John McAdory founded Frequency
