L’Oreal USA Partners with NAACP to Launch Grant Program for Black-owned Small Businesses
L’Oréal USA today announced the creation of its Inclusive Beauty Fund, a new grant program presented in partnership with the NAACP, the largest and most pre-eminent civil rights organization in the nation. Through this inaugural round of funding, L’Oréal USA will award 30 one-time grants of $10,000 each to Black-owned small businesses, Black entrepreneurs, and professional services in all sectors of the U.S. beauty industry. As small businesses in America have been hit the hardest by the economic fallout of the pandemic and Black-owned businesses are shutting down twice as fast as others according to NBER, L’Oréal USA teamed up with the NAACP to identify the most promising Black-owned small businesses and
Biden supports releasing the Harriet Tubman $20 bill ASAP
By Roz Edward The newly installed Biden-Harris administration is looking for “ways to speed” the release of $20 bills featuring Tubman. The historic currency change would have been a huge boost to recognizing and celebrating the achievement of African Americans, in June of 2019, Trump administration dashed the hopes of millions when racially divisive and demeaning forces went to work in that doomed administration to squash the releasing the much-anticipated Harriet Tubman $20 bill. Trump era Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin announced then that the administration was delaying the release of
Political wins showcase Black college excellence
Cyril Josh Barker for the Amsterdam News The wins of Howard University alum/Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, Morehouse College alum U.S. Senator-elect Rev. Raphael Warnock and help from political organizer and Spelman College graduate Stacy Abrams was summed up in a viral Jan. 5 tweet: “If a Morehouse man becomes a U.S. senator, while a Howard alumna is the vice president, and both were aided by a Spelman woman, I never, never, never want to hear any more talk about HBCU’s not preparing you for the ‘real world.’” The tweet was
Real Times Media Unveils All-New Multimedia Studio Inside Detroit Headquarters
Named Studio 1452 to reflect the HQ’s address, the new studio will enable RTM to produce and distribute original digital content daily DETROIT – January 12, 2021 – Today, Real Times Media (RTM) unveiled its all-new multimedia broadcast studio named Studio 1452. The new facility features broadcast-production-quality cameras and livestream and podcast capabilities giving the company and its subsidiaries, most notably its co-located Michigan Chronicle nameplate, the tools to create a variety of high-end media projects in-house. Studio 1452 is on the ground level of the Real Times
Boston Red Sox Hire Bianca Smith as First Black Woman Coach in Baseball History
By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent Bianca Smith, an African American woman, has made baseball history. Smith, who most recently served as an assistant baseball coach and hitting coordinator at Wisconsin’s Carroll University, was named a coach in the Boston Red Sox minor league system. Smith, 29, becomes the first Black woman to coach in professional baseball. She will work with the team’s infielders at the Red Sox minor league facility in Fort Meyers, Fla. “She was a great candidate coming in,” Red Sox vice president of player development
SBA Launches Largest Expansion of Women’s Business Centers in 30 Years
Washington, Jan. 04, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — The U.S. Small Business Administration today announced grant funding and the historic launch of 20 new Women’s Business Centers (WBC) across America to serve rural, urban, and underserved communities alike. The opening of the 20 new WBCs is the largest single expansion of WBCs across America in its 30-year tenure, and these centers will be pivotal to the success of women-owned businesses as they continue to recover during this time. The WBCs will be hosted in rural and underserved markets
Former Eastside High Principal and The Inspiration Behind The 1989 Film “Lean on Me”, Joe Clark, Dead at 82.
by Ali Bouldin Joe Clark, the former principal of Paterson New Jersey, Eastside High, and the inspiration behind the 1989 film, “Lean on Me,” has died at 82 from an undisclosed illness. Joe Clark, a retired Army Drill Sergeant, played by Morgan Freeman in the movie “Lean on Me,” was widely known for carrying a bull horn in one hand and a baseball bat in the other. In a 1989 appearance on the Arsenio Hall Show, Clark said both the bullhorn and the baseball bat was symbolic. “The bullhorn
Netflix commits $25 Million to the “Equitable Path Forward” Initiative to Counter Racial Inequities Rooted in Housing
by Kelly Washington Netflix Incorporated and Enterprise Community Partners (“Enterprise”) announced Netflix’s $25 million commitment in Equitable Path Forward. Enterprise’s new five-year, $3.5 billion nationwide initiative will help dismantle the deeply-rooted legacy of racism in housing – from the types of homes built, where they are made, who builds them, and the wealth that the homes generate. After decades of systemic racism in housing, from government-sanctioned discrimination like redlining and race-based federal mortgage programs to restrictive deed covenants based on one’s skin color, to predatory lending and discriminatory property
MLB finally recognizes Negro League players as Major Leaguers
It has taken 100 years, but Major League Baseball (MLB) announced on Dec. 16 that the Negro Leagues will be included in the organization’s history rather than being treated as a separate entity. “It is MLB’s view that the Committee’s 1969 omission of the Negro Leagues from consideration was clearly an error that demands today’s designation,” MLB said in a statement. The Negro National League was formed on Feb. 13, 1920, at a YMCA in Kansas City, Missouri. The National Negro League struggled to make ends meet, and the
American Express Commits $2.5 M to 100 Black Female Owned Businesses
Did you know that woman-founded businesses received a mere 2.8 percent of venture capital dollars in 2019, with female founders of color receiving just 0.32 percent? A couple big organizations are working to change that for the long-term. Co-Founder of Kazmaleje (pronounced Cosmology), LaToya Stirrup is one of 100 women selected by American Express and IFundWomen of Color for its 100 for 100 campaign that supports black female entrepreneurs. All recipients of the grant program will be awarded $25,000 plus 100 days of business mentorship. Kazmaleje, founded in Miami,