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Based on the latest non-fungible token (NFT) project led by House of First and The Painted House, NBA All-Star Bam Adebayo is committed to ensuring that Black people are seen in the tech space, according to a press release. As a founding collaborator of Black is Beautiful, Adebayo will use the NFT collection to bring awareness to creators of color across the Web3 space, while uplifting and providing them with the resources needed to thrive. “I’m struck by the historic nature of this new collection, providing an incredible opportunity to feature black art and black life in new ways while ensuring opportunities to support greater diversity and increased representation,” Adebayo said in an official statement.
If you’re a sneakerhead, you might want to listen up for this one. According to a press release, one of the oldest and most successful e-commerce websites known on the Internet has just launched a flagship store in Los Angeles that rewards avid sneaker wearers for sporting their kicks. As one of the places to go when on the hunt for both new and pre-owned sneakers, eBay now wants to reward people who not only purchase shoes from their new store but for leaving out with them on their feet. For the forthcoming holiday, the Wear ‘Em Out store will become home to some of the most exclusive, top-notch sneakers available to sneaker lovers outside of eBay’s normal online platform. “Most people can identify with that feeling of getting a new pair of shoes that you love so much, you just HAVE to wear them out of the store,” said Garry Thaniel, GM of Sneakers at eBay. “The Wear ‘Em Out Store celebrates a love of sneakers while acknowledging that sneakerheads are often balancing what they wear...
Canadian brothers Kevin and Thierry Mofo’s brand Soles of Justice is launching their first NFT sneaker minted on the Ethereum blockchain tied to high-end physical footwear. After Quebec’s Court of Appeal ruled in favor of eBay in 2012 to cancel the sale of their Nike Air Foamposite One Galaxy shoes that stood to earn $98,000 — Kevin and Thierry are now on a mission to raise awareness of user agreement policies on platforms. Soles of Justice is an initiative meant to ensure that digital creators, startups, and innovators are not stifled by the scale of eCommerce and Big Tech and spark conversations around its control over the digital ecosystems and infrastructures that now underpin our lives. The NFT sneaker can be redeemed for an identical pair of Nike Air Foamposite One Galaxy in size 10 purchased by Thierry, who lined up at a Montreal shoe store and waited 30 hours to buy the coveted sneakers. The brand hopes to release its first NFT collection authenticated with real-life limited...
Who better than professional athletes, A’ja Wilson and Bam Adebayo to be exact, to invest in an app that gets your bodies moving and physical health in check? The two basketball stars invested in a $2.7 million seed round led by Sweet Capital for Masters, a recently launched fitness app, Forbes reports. The app’s mission is to help people “get into better shape, connect with others virtually, and want to follow athletes and see their training methods.” Wilson and Adebayo are both investors, as well as trainers for the app. “I think it’s something you’ve never really seen before,” said Wilson. “You see us pro athletes, what we produce on the court or the field or wherever we are. But you don’t really know the background to it all and how simple some exercises may be. When I heard I could be able to be my own trainer in a sense, I thought it was pretty cool to be a part of it.”
Maryland resident Omolayo Adebayo turned a four-year-long dream of hers to help the homeless into an innovative nonprofit for the community. After Adebayo’s nonprofit — The Neighborhood Well — raised $50,000 to purchase a mobile shower, the 32-year-old rolled out the unit in October 2021, Fox 29 reports. According to Adebayo, the vision for an innovative way to help the homeless was first spurred in 2017. “It came from a dream, from God,” Omolayo Adebayo told the outlet. “It was a mobile shower, a man in front of it saying ‘Thank you’ and that was the dream.” She continued: “And that came around the time God was pushing me to start a non-profit,” she continued. “So once I had that dream, it solidified…this is what the non-profit was for.”
NBA player Bam Adebayo of the Miami Heat just gave these local Miami students the upgrade of a lifetime by surprising them with digital learning tools, Newsone reports. After teaming up with AT&T and Connected Nation, a nonprofit with a commitment to bridging broadband and digital technology gaps throughout the country, Adebayo was able to provide the after-school program with digital devices and hotspots for the next school year. The efforts will help the students further their learning both at the center and from the comfort of their homes. This comes as a part of AT&T’s $2 billion commitment over the next 3 years to address the digital divide. Oxford defines the digital divide as “the gulf between those who have ready access to computers and the internet and those who do not.” “For so many students, our nation’s schools and nonprofit organizations are their only source for social connections and resources for remote learning that have become so vital for future success,” said...
After years of working in tech, Brian Peret is dedicating his time to making the industry more accessible. Peret, a developer-turned-software-engineer originally from Milwaukee, WI, understood the importance of technology firsthand while attending graduate school in Tampa, FL. Ultimately, It was a nudge from his brother that first got him thinking about transitioning from the wet sciences (chemistry and biomedical engineering) to tech, but he didn’t make the pivot until the 2008 recession. “In a time when everyone else is losing their jobs and people are foreclosing on homes and losing their homes, I’m seeing computer programmers and developers gain wealth. That’s when I really realized that in technology, there is this entire industry that for those who can do the skills and do the job, there will always be a job for you out there. So that’s kind of what got me on board, and then that passion has just increased time and again,” Peret said during an interview with AFROTECH™. Peret’s...
Cybersecurity remains one of the most important — and unpredictable — topics shaping today’s technology landscape. At AFROTECH™ 2024, Nicole Dove, director of security engineering at Riot Games, led a session on how bad actors use artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance cyberattacks and how defenders are evolving to stay ahead. Moderated by Dr. Christine Izuakor, founder and CEO of Cyber Pop-up, the session also included Lola Obamehinti, founder of Nigerian Techie who has over a decade of experience at major tech companies including eBay. During the session, Dove and Obamehinti were presented with high-stakes real-world scenarios to respond to live. “We’ve all heard a lot of the nightmare stories over the last year, especially when it comes to security,” Izuakor said. “Everything from unprecedented amounts of data being leaked to social media hacks to a global IT outage — and it’s important as leaders for us to be able to respond in ways that are efficient, to remain calm, to think...
Former Yale University students are making it easier to spot counterfeit drugs. Per TechCrunch, Adebayo Alonge, Amy Kao and Wei Lui launched healthcare startup RxAll in 2016. The inception of the company was in response to their own experience with counterfeit drugs. For Alonge, it was nearly fatal after he took a medicine that contained a dangerous amount of diazepam, while Kao’s experience left her hospitalized. “I survived a 21-day coma in Nigeria 15 years ago. My co-founder, Amy, was hospitalized in Thailand after taking counterfeit medicine. And Wei lost a family member due to contaminated drugs,” Alonge told TechCrunch. While students they were able to pick each other’s brains during a research and development project and found further information to validate their concerns. “100,000 Africans die from this problem every year. One million people die across the world from this problem,” Alonge mentioned . This led to RxAll’s inaugural product RxScanner, a device powered by...
Mikal Bridges’ life and legacy with the NBA can only be described in one word: consistency. The 27-year-old ball player has never missed a single game in his six seasons with the league, brought multiple teams to the playoffs , and has even claimed to have eaten the same Chipotle meal every single day for over a decade. While it’s hard to believe the young small forward can maintain such a stringent day-to-day discipline, he’s been making waves over the years with his on-the-court performance and easy-going demeanor. If you’ve been following NBA news in recent weeks, you’re likely familiar with the ultra-reliable player, as he recently secured himself a position on the New York Knicks with a high-profile trade. Since Bridges has been so consistent and successful in his NBA career, many fans and viewers are curious about his salary and overall net worth. According to Clutch Points , Mikal Bridges touts a jaw-dropping $20 million net worth as of June 2024, with more millions sure to...
Most people know the famed Atlanta rapper Offset for one of two reasons. He was one-third of the popular rap group Migos before pursuing a solo career and is husband to Cardi B whose real name is Belcalis Marlenis Cephus (2024 net worth is $80 million) who honestly needs no introduction — Grammy award-nominated American rapper, social media personality and former reality star . But the southern music artist has been in the entertainment industry for years — including as a backup dancer to Whitney Houston at one point. As part of Migos, Offset and his group members, Quavo and the late Takeoff, helped to bring Trap music further into the mainstream with iconic hits like “Bad and Boujee” and “Walk It Talk It.” He would go on as a solo artist to further establish himself as a fixture in the rap genre, earning a Best Rap Performance Grammy nomination for his song “Clout” which features his wife. With all the success and notoriety afforded Offset, exactly how much is the former Migos...
Jalen Rose loves the kids. Many people may know the former NBA star by his noteworthy career on the court and as a member of the NCAA squad coined the “Fab Five.” But the current ESPN sports analyst is more than his previous work in the NBA. Already reported by AfroTech, Rose opened a tuition-free school that offers its students post-graduation support, a concept the Detroit native firmly believes in. “I feel like the eight most important years of a young person’s life are the four that they’re in high school or the four that they could be in college,” Rose said in a “Earn Your Leisure” interview at the time. Rose is doubling down on this concept during the most recent NBA All-Star weekend with a partnership with STARRY, a new lemon-lime soda from Pepsi Co.
Ja Rule has kept his promise to support Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). The Grammy-award-winning artist launched The Painted House alongside business partner Herb Rice in collaboration with the non-fungible token (NFT) launchpad platform — House of First — late spring. The partnership birthed the Black is Beautiful, an NFT collection featuring 1,000 total items that display Black joy and the everyday challenges of Being Black in America, as per the marketplace. Collaborators on the project also include illustrator Nick Davis, Deion Sanders, Ashanti, Tanya Sam, and Bam Adebayo, among others. “It’s basically telling the story of Black America,” Rule said, according to Bloomberg. “From our joy to our pain.”