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Cannabis hasn’t always been inclusive for Black people, especially Black women. Now, Jessica Couch, Founder of Fayetteville Road Agency, and Cannaclusive’s Kassia Graham are working to break down all barriers put in place to keep them from reaping the benefits of the plant. “Black women alone are some of the top users of complementary and alternative medicine,” Couch explained to AfroTech. “So that’s our tinctures, our teas, we pray, we do all of this other stuff besides subjecting to just taking medicine that’s prescribed to us.” At Cannaclusive, it’s about Black women finally reaping the benefits for the work that’s put in. “It’s imperative that Black women are involved in the cannabis industry,” said Cannaclusive Director of Community & Strategy, Kassia Graham via email. “Like Black men and others impacted by the war on drugs, Black women deserve to reap any benefits from medical and adult-use legalization due to a history of being disenfranchised by the state and federal...
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) just announced Deborah Archer as its new president, reports The Associated Press. Archer will become the first Black person to head the organization’s 69-person board in its 101-year history. View this post on Instagram A post shared by ACLU (@aclu_nationwide) The former ACLU fellow will replace Susan Herman who stepped down after leading the board for 12 years through lots of controversial moments which include the emergence of civil liberties and privacy concerns in the digital age along with the Trump administration. “After beginning my career as an ACLU fellow, it is an honor to come full circle and now lead the organization as board president,” shared Archer in a statement, according to Black Enterprise. “The ACLU has proven itself as an invaluable voice in the fight for civil rights in the last four years of the Trump era, and we are better positioned than ever to face the work ahead. This organization has been part of every...
It’s almost impossible to go a day without encountering a single video camera. After all, there are almost 50 million surveillance cameras in the United States alone. However, people usually don’t pay much attention to cameras because the average one isn’t being continuously monitored. Now, a report by the American Civil Liberties Union has found that new technological developments may lead to a system of continuous, mass surveillance. It opens up new questions about not only privacy but the act of turning everyday surveillance into a business. The report — “The Dawn of Robot Surveillance” — focused on the $3.2 billion industry that’s known as “video analytics.” According to the report, these systems allow computers to not only record, but to analyze footage in real time. These machines will be able to watch people for “suspicious” behavior and their deployment is already happening. Real-time face surveillance is currently used in both Chicago and Detroit . Seeing the possible...
In September 2017 , the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Electronic Frontier Foundation sued the federal government for searching phones and laptops at airports or other U.S. ports of entry without a warrant or cause for suspicion. To prepare for trial, the ACLU and EFF received documents and deposition testimonies from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). As it turns out, CBP and ICE not only authorized border officials to search phones and laptops, but they could also “consider requests from other government agencies when deciding whether to conduct such warrantless searches.” Now, the ACLU and EFF are asking a federal court to rule without tria l that the Department of Homeland Security violates First and Fourth Amendment rights with its warrantless search processes. Esha Bhandari, staff attorney with the ACLU’s Speech, Privacy, and Technology project, said: “This new evidence reveals that government agencies are...
The ACLU and the Center for Media Justice are suing the FBI for records related to a controversial 2017 report that cited a rise in Black extremism following police-involved shooting deaths of African Americans. The report, titled “Black Identity Extremists Likely Motivated To Target Law Enforcement Officers” claims that law enforcement officials were being targeted as protests against police violence erupted around the country. In 2014, the ACLU submitted a public records request asking for all documentation since 2014 that used the phrases “black nationalist,” ”black identity extremist,” and “black separatist,” according to the Associated Press. The lawsuit is happening because the FBI is withholding these documents and in some cases, refusing to search entire categories, according to the ACLU. “The FBI’s baseless claims about the fictitious group of ‘Black Identity Extremists’ throws open the door to racial profiling of Black people and Black-led organizations who are using their...
In January a Florida court ruled that Willie Allen Lynch didn’t have a right to see photos of other suspects also identified by the facial recognition search that lead to his arrest, as reported by Slate. In 2015, undercover cops with the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office purchased $50 of crack cocaine . They photographed the man selling it and used the Face Analysis Comparison Examination System (FACES) — which came back with Lynch and four other suspects . Ultimately, Lynch was sentenced to eight years in prison, according to the American Civil Liberties Union . What’s alarming is that The Florida Times-Union noted the software wasn’t mentioned in Lynch’s arrest report and instead, “the Sheriff’s Office said it had identified him using a manual search of its mugshot database.” On Monday, the ACLU filed a friend-of-the-court brief — alongside the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the Georgetown Center on Privacy and Technology, and the Innocence Project — to get Florida’s Supreme Court...
On Wednesday, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) released documents showing that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has access to a huge license-plate database that it uses to track and target immigrants. The ACLU of Northern California obtained the documents through a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit that revealed ICE’s use of a automated license plate reader (ALPR) database operated by a company called Vigilant Solutions . ALPR systems not only pass on license plate information, but they include time, date, and location from thousands of cameras. The ACLU previously outlined how ALPRs record Americans’ movements and called them an emerging form of mass surveillance. More than 9,200 ICE employees can use the database, which collects upwards of a hundred million license plates each month. According to the ACLU, ICE itself has over 5 billion data points collected by private businesses — such as insurance companies and parking lots. But, ICE can gain access to 1.5...
The ACLU of California is suing Scott R. Jones, the sheriff of Sacramento County, for blocking two Black Lives Matter Activists on Facebook. According to the lawsuit, Black Lives Matter leaders Tanya Faison and Sonia Lewis were censored after posting critical comments on Jones’ official Facebook page. The two are founders of the Sacramento chapter of BLM. Faison and Lewis’ posts were in response to Jones asking for more insight on how to handle the future relationship of Sacramento Sheriff’s department and Black Lives Matter. Both of their posts about Jones and the Sacramento Sheriff’s Department were removed and their pages were banned. The ACLU’s complaint alleges that Jones’ actions against the two were “based on the content of their speech, their viewpoint, and their identity,” and violated their First Amendment rights to free speech. This isn’t the first lawsuit of its kind. Politicians in Arizona, Georgia, and Virginia were also sued for banning people from their official...
Facebook is under fire again for its advertising. According to lawsuits from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the social media giant is allowing companies to post ads using discriminatory methods. Last week, the ACLU filed charges with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission against Facebook and 10 other employers alleging gender discrimination. Abas USA, Defenders, Nebraska Furniture Mart, City of Greensboro North Carolina, Need Work Today, Renewal by Andersen LLC, Rice Tire, JK Moving Services, Enhanced Roofing & Modeling, and Xenith were named in the lawsuits. Abas USA released a statement in response to the lawsuit saying that it used two separate ads — one that targeted male candidates and another that targeted females. “We ran the ads together for one week, and they produced no applicants,” said Abas USA. “This was the first and last time that we used Facebook ads targeted towards men and women.” Facebook’s ad tools allow companies to select “all,” or target...
Distinguishing herself beyond Oprah Winfrey’s creative counterpart, Gayle King has built an impressive portfolio for herself, earning her rightful spot on TIME’s 100 Most Influential People of 2019. Known for her role as a co-host on CBS’s “This Morning,” as well as editor for O, The Oprah Magazine , her journalistic endeavors have led to a successful career in broadcasting and publishing, as well an impressive net worth to match. Here’s what to know about King’s professional journey and how it’s amassed an $80 million net worth, as reported by Assets Magazine. Who Is Gayle King? (Photo by Roy Rochlin/WireImage) Born December 28th, 1954 in Chevy Chase, Maryland, King graduated from the University of Maryland with a degree in psychology, though her interests guided her on an alternate professional course. Like any other journalist, King worked her way up in the ranks, from smaller newsrooms to national television. She began her career as a production assistant at WJZ-TV in...
One of the major flaws of artificial intelligence (AI) is that it can reinforce racial bias. As CNN reported, the technology is based on data fed by humans, which can mean the data can be racist and biased. “Remember: AI is just software that learns by example,” Reid Blackman, author of the book, “Ethical Machines,” told CNN. “So if you give it examples that contain or reflect certain kinds of biases or discriminatory attitudes … you’re going to get outputs that resemble that.” The impact of its racial bias continues to disproportionately affect the Black community , including when it comes to resume screening. “And many employers now use AI-driven tools to interview and screen job seekers, many of which pose enormous risks for discrimination against people with disabilities and other protected groups,” the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) wrote in a 2021 report on how AI can worsen racial and economic inequities. Now, a recent research paper has shown another area where AI...
From the looks of the current state of artificial intelligence (AI), it’s not going anywhere for the foreseeable future. It’s for this reason that people have been sharing statistics on how harmful its bias can be. According to a 2021 report from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), AI tools — built by humans — have been found to worsen discriminatory practices against marginalized groups such as housing discrimination.
The Parent Company — a publicly traded U.S. cannabis organization backed by Jay-Z — is on a mission to make the cannabis industry more diverse, inclusive and equitable. Aligning with this, the company has hired Tiffany McBride as its new managing director of Social Equity Ventures. Founded in January 2021, The Parent Company is California’s leading vertically integrated cannabis company. McBride’s hire comes as the company also welcomed Kerry Arnold as its chief people officer. “This is an exciting time to join The Parent Company as the Managing Director of Social Equity Ventures to continue to ensure that minority communities have a seat at the table in the cannabis industry,” McBride said in a press release. “The Social Equity Ventures Fund and the recent opening of LA’s first Black Woman-Owned Dispensary, Josephine & Billie’s, are just some of the ways we are already making progress toward a more equitable future in cannabis. McBride joins the company with more than 15 years of...
Mike Tyson’s love for cannabis has always been “loud” and proud. Now the heavyweight champion will have an opportunity to channel his passion into dollar signs with the debut of Tyson 2.0 in partnership with Columbia Care Inc., one of the nation’s largest cannabis distributors. Tyson will wear the hat of the company’s chief brand officer while the company will be led by co-founder and chairman Chan Bronstein and CEO Adam Wilks. “I got to know Mike as an entrepreneur and investor, and it was clear to me that his relationship with cannabis was a critical component in his own life. We saw an opportunity to create Tyson 2.0 and develop brands and products nationally,” says Bronstein in a press release. Mike Tyson credits cannabis as the saving grace in his then ongoing battle with substance abuse — which created a string of confrontations with the law — and credits the drug for alleviating his aggressive demeanor. At age 55, Tyson had a newfound confidence, ultimately leading to a...
Louisiana State University (LSU) has just made a power move with the school’s first Black president. During the Board of Supervisors Meeting, the Board named William Tate IV as the school’s next president. Tate currently serves as an Education Foundation Distinguished Professor and Provost as well as Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs at the University of South Carolina. “This is a very pivotal time at our university, from economic, environmental, social challenges, but we are doing great things at this place. From our academic achievements, our enrollment, our diversity, I’m very proud of what we’ve accomplished,” said LSU Board Chair Robert Dampf in an official press release. “We set about to find a great leader, and we found one.” He will replace current LSU President Tom Galligan who has served as the school’s president since January 2000. For Tate, being a part of LSU’s executive team is exciting and he notes that the students will be a driving force in the work that...