Ngozi Nwanji

AFROTECH™ Conference is coming back bigger and better! From Nov. 13-16, thousands of Black techies will be coming together once again for the largest annual Black tech conference. This time around, the networking and knowledge sharing is set to take place in Houston, TX. AFROTECH™ Conference 2023 was held in Austin, TX. The experience included a stellar lineup of speakers such as Issa Rae, Timbaland, Marsai Martin, and more discussing topics ranging from fintech disruption to generative artificial intelligence. “I think just coming here [AFROTECH™] to fellowship could be the timing for your next step,” Timbaland told AFROTECH™ following his panel on the Innovation Stage in 2023. “I’m just meeting these great-minded people and gathering all the information. You can never stop getting information. And that’s why I think just being in a room is not about your business flourishing. It is about connecting with like-minded people to get your business to flourish. And I think this is a...

Amazon has introduced a new delivery service that caters to low-income families to help cut costs and time for grocery shopping. According to a press release, the retail giant unveiled its grocery delivery subscription, which is provided at a lower cost to individuals receiving Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits. Available in over 3,500 U.S. cities, the subscription provides unlimited grocery delivery on orders more than $35 from Amazon Fresh, Whole Foods Market, and other local grocery retail stores on Amazon.com. Customers who use a registered EBT (electronic benefit transfer) card to purchase groceries aren’t required to have a Prime membership to access the subscription’s benefits, the press release details. The cost for this group of customers is $4.99 per month, and Prime members pay $9.99 per month. Under the new Amazon subscription, both SNAP recipients and Prime members are offered convenience through one-hour delivery windows and 30-minute pickup...

Angela Bassett is set to be honored in Atlanta, GA. In May 2024, the legendary actress will receive an honorary degree from Spelman College, according to WSB-TV 2 in Atlanta. What’s more, it was announced that Bassett is set to give the commencement speech to the HBCU’s class of 2024. “Spelman College is honored to have acclaimed actress and director Angela Bassett to bring words of inspiration to our graduating Class of 2024,” Spelman College President Dr. Helene D. Gayle said, according to the outlet. She continued, “Her work has had a tremendous impact both on and off the screen and serves as an example for our students to lead in their own spaces.” In addition to Bassett, Spelman College will honor Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, award-winning journalist Rose Scott, and Reverend Dr. Yvette Flunder. Gayle says she looks forward to the honorees being a source of inspiration for not only the class of 2024 but also their families and the overall Spelman College...

A long-time factor for a medical test for kidney transplant evaluations has been rectified, which has lessened a massive barrier for Black patients in need of a new kidney. Previously, the eGFR (estimated glomerular filtration rate) test that is used for kidney transplant waitlist evaluations included race and outdated studies that inaccurately showed that Black patients’ kidney function was different than other racial groups and underestimated the extent of their illness, according to ABC News. Today, race is no longer taken into consideration. This came after reassessment from the National Kidney Foundation and the American Society of Nephrology in 2020, which determined race had no connection to kidney function. As a resulted, the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network enacted the update in 2023. “That really was problematic, but it was very widely accepted,” said Martha Pavlakis, former chair of the kidney committee with the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network,...

You can’t place Anifa Mvuemba’s creativity in a box. Back in 2020, the Hanifa founder and fashion designer shook up the fashion world with a virtual 3D show on Instagram for her collection, Pink Label Congo, inspired by her home country of the Congo. From then on, Mvuemba continued to implement her self-taught tech skills into her work, as previously reported by AFROTECH™. Now, Mvuemba has taken her fashion expertise into new territory — the spirits industry. In February 2024, it was announced that she and Sergio Hudson are partnering with premium bourbon brand Woodford Reserve. During a New York Fashion Week (NYFW) dinner, Mvuemba spoke about previously feeling like she was approached by brands for their own gain and image, per WWD. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Anifa M (@anifam) In an email interview with AFROTECH™, Mvuemba shared , “As a Black designer, navigating the barriers that come with being shortlisted for collaborations merely to fulfill a diversity...

For over a decade, Stephen A. Smith has been recognized as one of the faces of ESPN. Before becoming a host on “First Take,” the veteran sports broadcaster hosted “The Stephen A. Smith Show” on ESPN Radio from 2005 to 2008, per ESPN Press Room. By 2011, Smith returned to host a weekday local show on ESPN Radio 98.7FM in New York, NY, and a local show on ESPN LA 710AM in Los Angeles, CA. In an interview with “Earn Your Leisure” podcast, Smith recounted being fired from ESPN in 2009. He explained that the reason for his departure was that his contract at the time did not align with what he believed he should earn. “I thought that I deserved more than they offered,” Smith shared on “Earn Your Leisure. “I was appalled at the offer they made me. I did not like it. I did not appreciate it. I felt disrespected. And I said ‘No.’” Smith admitted that his disapproval with the offer he received was based on the acclaim and accolades that were pouring in for him. However, he says when he...

Back in 2020, Swizz Beatz entered a new business outside of Hip-Hop — camel racing. Tapping into the venture led the music maven to become the first African-American and Westerner to own a camel racing team in the Middle East, as previously shared by AFROTECH™. “I had it in my mind for so long,” Swizz Beatz told Variety. “My friends out there have teams, friends’ parents’ families in Dubai [United Arab Emirates] have teams. That’s how I had access to knowing what to look for, how to pick your fleet, understand the bloodline, find the best trainers. I did extensive research and was there for a month straight doing it. I had the heads-up for a while but didn’t push the button until COVID. It sounded big, amazing and a lot of work, but I just wanted to do it. It feels like it came fast, but it was a long process.” Following snagging 20 trophies including the Saudi Camel Federation Cup, per AFROTECH™, Swizz Beatz has his eyes set on another win. According to Bloomberg, he has spent...

T he Biden administration has taken a ction against TikTok. On April 24, 2024, President Joe Biden signed a law to ban the China-based social media app under parent company ByteDance in the U.S. if it’s not sold within a year, NPR reports. The move comes after the House of Representatives introduced in March the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act , which aims to “protect the national security of the United States from the threat posed by foreign adversary controlled applications,” as previously shared by AFROTECH™. Under President Biden’s new law, if TikTok fails to be sold in 12 months, it would become illegal for web-hosting providers to host the platform. What’s more, Google and Apple would have to pull the popular app from its app stores. According to NPR, this is the first time that a law has been passed that could result in banning a social media platform in the U.S. What has led to this timeline of events is U.S. government officials have...

Robert F. Smith’s Vista Equity Partners has marked off a new milestone. Axios reports that the private equity firm has raised over $20 billion for its new fund — making the fund its largest to date. As a platform that invests in technology companies, Vista Equity Partners is set to focus on artificial intelligence (AI). According to the outlet, Smith wrote to investors ahead of Vista Equity Partners’ annual general meeting in April about what they can expect soon. “You will also hear more about how we have adopted generative artificial intelligence not just as a tool but as a pivotal component of our value creation and underwriting processes,” Smith wrote, per the outlet. He added, “This has enabled us to identify and capitalize on opportunities, including dramatically expanding TAM [total available market], product innovation, GTM [go-to-market] strategies, with greater precision and speed, ensuring that we stay ahead of the curve in a rapidly evolving market landscape.” Before its...

A new report has shown celebratory news for Detroit, MI. “The Growth of Housing Wealth in Detroit and its Neighborhoods: 2014-2022,” a study by the University of Michigan Poverty Solutions, has been released showing that Black homeowners in Detroit have “gained $2.8 billion in home value,” per a news release.   View this post on Instagram   A post shared by City of Detroit (@cityofdetroit) Beginning in 2014, the study was conducted after Detroit’s municipal bankruptcy. In July 2013, Detroit became “the largest U.S. city to file for bankruptcy,” per AP News. The news release details that the study had a goal of finding out if the city’s housing values had seen growth across those nine years, and if these improvements had been fairly distributed across Detroit neighborhoods and racial/ethnic groups. With an 94% overall increase in home value, and 80% increase for Black homeowners specifically, since the study started, Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan credits residents stabilizing...

A trademark has placed Pharrell Williams in legal drama. In April 2024, Pink, also known as Alecia Moore, sued Williams for trademarking “P.Inc” for his music-focused promotional marketing services, Rolling Stone reports. The pop singer’s lawyers are requesting for the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to not authorize his trademark as they claim that it resembles the “PINK” trademark, which court documents show she applied for in 1999 and registered in 2001. Pink’s lawyers also claim that Williams’ trademark has the potential to damage her business and create confusion for her fans as they both operate in the music industry. “[Williams’] P.INC Mark is similar to the PINK Marks in sight, sound, meaning and commercial impression,” the filing wrote, according to Rolling Stone. “[Williams’] and [Pink’s] goods and services are identical and/or closely related. … [Williams] is likely to market and promote its goods through the same channels of trade...

Harvard University is searching for a new president and has tapped a Black woman business executive to assist with the “challenges and opportunities facing the University.” According to The Harvard Crimson, Vivian Y. Hunt was appointed as the new president of the board of overseers. View this post on Instagram A post shared by The Harvard Crimson (@theharvardcrimson) For the 2024-2025 school year, the Harvard Business School alumna, who has been described as “a voice for diversity and impact at scale” by the school, is set to lead the board. The outlet details that three overseers serve on Harvard University’s presidential search committee and the president of the overseers has been one of the three in the institution’s past five searches. Tyler Jacks, the founding director of the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at MIT and fellow Harvard University alumna, is joining Hunt as board vice chair. Jacks was a member of the presidential search committee that selected former...

Al Roker and his production company, Al Roker Entertainment, have been sued for allegedly not following through with a commitment to diversity. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Bill Schultz filed a lawsuit against the “Today” host and CEO’s company as he claims that executives failed to commit to its DEI initiative, which would bring Black writers on board for PBS’s “Weather Hunters.” Al Roker Entertainment is the owner of the animated children’s show. As an executive producer for “Weather Hunters,” Schultz addressed the issue at hand, confronting the leaders about the failure to adhere to the diversity program, which is mandated by PBS. However, he says that their response was firing him. In addition, a Black producer was also reprimanded for speaking up. “I put nine years of my career into ‘ Weather Hunters ,’ a project I strongly believe in, with the goal of making a wonderfully crafted show for children to enjoy and learn from,” Schultz shared in a statement, according to...

While celebrating the gift of new life that’s on the way, Nelly and Ashanti have also shared a new venture they’ve embarked on. On April 17, 2024, the couple announced that they are engaged and expecting their first child. “This new year of life is such a blessing full of love, hope and anticipation,” Ashanti said, per Essence. “Motherhood is something that I have looked forward to, and sharing this with my family, fiancé and loyal fans, who have been so supportive of my career, is an amazing experience.”   View this post on Instagram   A post shared by Ashanti (@ashanti) In Ashanti’s pregnancy announcement video, she opens an early pregnancy test from diagnostic company Proov. What’s more, the company’s logo is featured at the end of the video. Essence reports that Ashanti and Nelly are co-owners of Proov. According to the company website, Proov offers affordable at-home, science-backed fertility and hormone marker tests. In addition to early pregnancy tests, there are “Hers and...

Aisha Bowe is an inspiration for Black women who aspire to work in the space industry. As previously reported by AFROTECH™, Bowe is a former rocket scientist for NASA and received the National Society of Black Engineers award for Outstanding Technical Contribution. However, before earning accolades, the aerospace engineer struggled to find her footing in her academic journey. In an interview with the “Earn Your Leisure” podcast, Bowe recalled not doing well during her time at community college. “I bombed the first semester,” Bowe told hosts Rashad Bilal and Troy Millings. “I think I’m going to be a business student and study economics.” Ultimately, struggling in community college led her to pursue a dream that she thought was once unachievable — becoming a rocket scientist. So, she transitioned into aerospace engineering at the University of Michigan, although people around her didn’t understand why she was pursuing the career. “They literally thought that I had lost it,” she said....