Yannise Jean

Editorial Note: Opinions and thoughts are the author’s own and not those of AFROTECH™. Google announced that it will now allow users under 13 years old to access its Gemini AI chatbot. Gemini is a direct competitor to OpenAI’s ChatGPT and has quickly been integrated into other Google services. Gemini will be available to kids whose parents use Family Link, which enables Google services for children only with the permission of the family. Young users will be able to communicate with the chatbot for text responses and create images generated by the system. Artificial intelligence has become the center of our lives as it disrupts industries and employment opportunities, and companies look to replace workers with AI. But while the AI industry is growing, there’s still so much we don’t know or understand about the technology as adults. Though Google has stated it won’t use data from younger users to train its AI, we shouldn’t trust this technology in the hands of young, impressionable...

Editorial Note: Opinions and thoughts are the author’s own and not those of AFROTECH™. The Trump administration’s anti-DEI crusade has now come for artificial intelligence (AI). Over the past several months, tech companies have retracted their previous commitments to DEI to comply with Trump’s executive order. Now, according to AP, both the administration and the Republican majority of Congress claim that AI is woke. “Wokeness,” or “woke,” is a term derived from African American Vernacular English to refer to being aware of social and racial injustice. It was a positive thing seen as early as the 1930s, or with people asking someone to “stay woke” from the 1970s well into the 2010s. That is until conservatives turned the word into a negative. Now, wokeness is seen as a negative thing, but only because they don’t want the public to be aware of the injustices they are committing currently. Artificial intelligence can’t be woke — it’s a thing that only operates in a way that it is...

Editorial Note: Opinions and thoughts are the author’s own and not those of AFROTECH™. The theme of the 2025 Met Gala was “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style”, particularly focused on Black dandyism. Guest Curator Monica L. Miller’s book, “Slaves to Fashion: Black Dandyism and the Styling of Black Diasporic Identity,” served as the primary inspiration for the exhibit. Black dandyism began in 18th century Britain, but its cultural movement took root in the early 20th century, in which Black people embodied the European sensibility through clothing as a form of self-expression. Emerging during a time when African Americans had little to no agency after the Emancipation Proclamation (1863), they used dandyism to address the erosion of their civil rights. The theme highly parallels the current fight to retain ownership and freedom during a divisive time in politics. The 2025 Met Gala had Black male co-chairs for the first time in history, with celebrities A$AP Rocky, Lewis Hamilton,...

Editorial Note: Opinions and thoughts are the author’s own and not those of AFROTECH™. A recent study released by Lending Tree revealed that a lot of Americans are using buy now, pay later (BNPL) loans from companies like Klarna and Affirm to buy groceries (25%, up from 14% in 2024). As economic fears mount and uncertainty about the economy continues, people are turning to financing their everyday necessities. But using BNPL loan services is a mistake, especially for those who struggle with debt. BNPL is an interest-free loan, allowing consumers to split their purchase into smaller payments. For those who have an issue with credit cards or deal with debt, this could be an alternative. But if you begin making late payments, you can be charged high fees, which is a problem for those who have multiple loans. While the existence of BNPL loans isn’t necessarily a problem, how they’ve come to be used is concerning. Recently, DoorDash announced its plans to accept BNPL financing through...

Editorial Note: Opinions and thoughts are the author’s own and not those of AFROTECH™. Recent viral videos on TikTok by Chinese wholesalers are claiming that luxury handbags and other items are made in China . This is a strong assertion when the trade war between the United States and China has consumers thinking about how much more they will have to pay for everyday items, as well as more frivolous purchases. Luxury goods aren’t as necessary when compared to food, clothes, and certain machinery. However, in recent years, consumer purchasing habits have diverged among various generations. Some Millennials and Gen-Z are focused on splurging on regular items like coffee and little treats, so spending money on big-ticket items has taken a backseat. Even so, while luxury goods have a higher mark-up in price based on brand recognition, many still use quality items to construct their products. For example, Hermés, the French luxury house, does not manufacture its bags in China, according...

Editorial Note: Opinions and thoughts are the author’s own and not those of AFROTECH™. This week, former wrestling promoter and current Education Secretary Linda McMahon published an Op-Ed in the Wall Street Journal announcing the Trump administration’s plans to begin collecting on defaulted student loans. However, as we’re on the brink of experiencing a recession thanks to President Donald Trump’s trade war, this act runs the risk of contributing to an economic slowdown, according to ABC News. Beginning on May 5, around 5 million borrowers who have defaulted on their student loans will be sent to collections. When they are sent to collections, the federal government will seize federal tax refunds, even garnish wages and other forms of income to pay off the debt. Many borrowers cannot afford a student loan payment, which is why they defaulted in the first place. Federal loans also have high interest rates, which this current administration has shown no interest in lowering to...

Editorial Note: Opinions and thoughts are the author’s own and not those of AFROTECH™. Trump’s tariffs have upended multiple industries. For bigger companies like Apple and Microsoft, or fast fashion behemoths like Zara, tariffs can be easily avoided by moving their distribution elsewhere. But for smaller businesses that don’t possess the same infrastructure, they don’t have that ability. Most Americans would agree that manufacturing should come back to the United States. Over the past decades, companies have moved their work abroad to take advantage of lower wages and the lack of unions that protect workers from abuses. In short, it’s easier to take advantage of the cheap labor offered in other countries like China, Thailand, and Vietnam. The whole system is inherently problematic, especially when we look at how workers in the United States are constantly berated and not treated properly. Moving manufacturing back to the states will also mean, unfortunately, that prices for goods...

Editorial Note: Opinions and thoughts are the author’s own and not those of AFROTECH™. Billionaire business leaders turned against President Donald Trump as he implemented sweeping tariffs with other countries, which have amounted to billions of dollars lost. Many of the billionaires who have pushed back against the Trump tariffs have also endorsed him for the 2024 presidential election. One of those billionaires, Bill Ackman, warned against tariffs, likening them to an “economic nuclear war” in a post on X (formerly known as Twitter). He also claimed that the tariffs weren’t what he voted for, despite Trump speaking on tariffs early on in the election. How Will Tariffs Affect The American Consumer? Unwarranted tariffs will not only decimate our economy but also hurt our already fragile standing on the world stage. In retaliation, China has raised tariffs on American goods to 125%. Most business leaders, economic experts, and other world leaders are confused over Trump’s misguided...

Editorial Note: Opinions and thoughts are the author’s own and not those of AFROTECH™. President Donald Trump has gone all in on his tariff crusade, announcing last week a 10% tariff on almost every country with even higher tariffs on specific countries. From beauty and food to car automation , every industry is currently reeling with the stock market dovetailing, and the potential negative aftereffects will be felt for decades to come. However, the now billion-dollar AI industry is at risk of being decimated thanks to Trump’s tariffs. Pro-crypto and pro-AI fanatics have curried a lot of favor with the president, so much so that many of them have been appointed as high government officials to advance America’s standing in the global AI race. Even though Trump has reversed his initial thoughts towards technology, his insistence on tariffs may hurt the AI industry after all. According to Time, AI companies, along with several other industries, lost billions of dollars when the tariffs...

Editorial Note: Opinions and thoughts are the author’s own and not those of AFROTECH™. In the 2024 presidential election , it was reported that voter turnout among Gen-Z voters dropped significantly compared to 2020. There was also a significant uptick in younger voters who supported President Donald Trump, according to the Guardian . Overall, Gen Z appears to be leaning slightly more conservative than their Millennial counterparts, a shift largely attributed to the influence of social media and its impact on shaping political perspectives. Social media’s prevalence in our daily lives has only gotten worse over the years. People now spend the majority of their time online, doom-scrolling. Younger generations are less likely to get their news from sources other than social media. They watch YouTube videos instead of regular television and don’t listen to the radio in the same way previous generations did. Videos targeted towards young men are laced with misogynistic messaging and the...

Editorial Note: Opinions and thoughts are the author’s own and not those of AFROTECH™. DEI has become a conservative buzzword to target anything that doesn’t appeal to straight, white, male ideals. The Trump administration has gone after every federal agency, academic institution, and corporate entity to eradicate any semblance of DEI. Whether through affirmative action, hiring laws, or ensuring equal representation of all races and genders, Trump has made DEI the hill to die on. Everything is DEI, from Kendrick’s Super Bowl halftime show to plane crashes. However, diversity has not been effectively implemented recently, nor applied in the appropriate context. Diversity, equity, and inclusion are designed to create a more balanced and fair society, particularly in the wake of the civil rights movement, by addressing systemic inequalities and ensuring equal opportunities for all. But now, conservatives have equated DEI policies with lower standards, a false narrative that President...

Editorial Note: Opinions and thoughts are the author’s own and not those of AFROTECH™. Elon Musk and his DOGE agency continue to make cuts and layoffs across the federal government despite voter’s outspoken opposition. They’ve taken their frustration out on Musk’s electric car company, Tesla, by boycotting the brand. Voters across the country have been attending town halls with both Republican and Democratic leaders to voice their concerns about Musk’s involvement in the federal government as an unelected official. Hundreds of thousands of federal employees have been laid off as a result of DOGE cuts, with several thousand being reinstated as a result of an order from a federal judge . For the past few weeks, protestors have been throwing eggs and vandalizing Tesla cars—especially the cyber truck, which has been ridiculed for its unfinished, robotic appearance. They’ve set fire to Tesla service centers and announced a general boycott of the company. The boycott isn’t just a domestic...

Editorial Note: Opinions and thoughts are the author’s own and not those of AFROTECH™ and will not impact the outcome of the events. TikTok has been the center of controversy, due to national security concerns, since 2020, when President Donald Trump first attempted to ban the app in the U.S. Former President Joe Biden continued to push forward with a ban, passing a mandate with overwhelming congressional support to force TikTok, owned by the Chinese company ByteDance, to sell to a U.S. company or be banned in the U.S. After several lawsuits and attempts to reverse the decision, the app chose to go dark right before Trump was inaugurated. Since then, Trump has signed an executive order to delay the ban by 75 days , providing a reprieve for TikTok and millions of its U.S. users and more time to sell the app to an American company. Now, time is almost up as the app is at risk again of being banned on April 5 . The Trump administration has stated that it is in talks with several...

Editorial Note: Opinions and thoughts are the author’s own and not those of AFROTECH™. Last week, President Donald Trump announced that the U.S. would sell “gold card” visas for over $5 million to wealthy foreigners to alleviate the country’s trillion dollars in debt. As he continues to align himself with billionaire oligarchs, sycophants like Vladimir Putin—it’s clear that Trump has never cared for ordinary people. In his statement, he claimed that this new initiative had never been done before. But as always, he is mistaken. Investing large sums of money in citizenship has been in place in various countries across Europe and the Caribbean. The incentive of citizenship for pay—with advantages like limited restrictions and more flexibility—can open the door for wealthy yet dubious individuals to perform illicit activities. While no one can assume that every person who pays upwards of millions of dollars for foreign citizenship is a criminal, the lack of regulations opens up the EU,...

Editorial Note: Opinions and thoughts are the author’s own and not those of AFROTECH™. One of the main goals of the Trump administration has been to remove Washington’s “elites” from office. Now that billionaire Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency agency have instituted mass layoffs, some supporters have buyer’s remorse. With midterm elections coming up, it’s possible that DOGE cuts could hurt the GOP and Trump administration as long as they continue. In town halls across the country, from Georgia to Idaho to Missouri, Republican lawmakers are facing backlash from their constituents for aligning with Musk’s influence in government and continuing to spew Donald Trump’s lies. They’ve assured constituents that rolling back diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, along with implementing mass deportations, are effective policies that serve the American people. But it’s clear from the round of boos seen in videos on social media that their voters aren’t buying it....