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It’s 5 o’clock somewhere — thanks to this Black-owned tequila brand! Nayana Ferguson is a ceiling smasher as the first Black woman to co-own a tequila company, something she says she initially never really saw for herself, reports Click On Detroit. While in the race to climb the corporate ladder here in America, Nayana’s health took a turn for the worse when she was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer at the age of 32. In 2012, the Detroit native found herself headed down a similar path with a breast cancer diagnosis after she found a lump in her breast. She also learned that she has Neutropenia — a disease that lowers her white blood cell count, in turn increasing her risk for infection. What all of this taught Nayana is that life is too short and so she began to truly focus on her passions. After meeting her husband Don online in 2014, they both discovered their love for tequila and made it their mission to learn all of the ins and outs about the business. A trip to the Dominican...
Nearly six years after Ferguson erupted in protests and uprisings over the tragic murder of Michael Brown, the city has elected Ella Jones as not only the first Black mayor but the first woman mayor as well. Jones, a Ferguson City Council member, pastor, and resident of the city for over 40 years, is dedicated to leading the city in a new direction. After Ferguson was ushered into national attention for their fight against police brutality and racism in the city, they took the national stage mobilizing the Black Lives Matter movement. The newly-elected mayor beat out fellow councilwoman Heather Robinett by only 138 votes to succeed term-limited Mayor James Knowles III, NPR reports . Jones’ victory still plays background to the ongoing protests in Ferguson as part of the Black resistance movements across the country combating the recent police brutality incidents. Jones has made her stance on current events clear and is committed to police department reform. She is also in full...
Editorial Note: Opinions and thoughts are the author’s own and not those of AFROTECH™. Peter Drucker, the Austrian management consultant whose writings helped shape modern management theory, once said, “If you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it.” This quote aptly describes the impact of the U.S. Justice Department’s decision to delete the National Law Enforcement Accountability Database. Created under the Biden administration and initially proposed by Donald Trump during his first term, the database was designed to hold federal police accountable for infractions and prevent bad officers from moving between jobs without oversight. By maintaining a record accessible to hiring authorities, the system aimed to improve transparency and accountability. However, the U.S. Justice Department provided no rationale for why it was decommissioned. The reasoning behind this decision may lie in the leadership of the U.S. Justice Department. Pam Bondi, a former Trump’s campaign official and the...
Dr. Benjamin Harvey liquidated his retirement accounts to make advancements in the world of artificial intelligence (AI), Forbes reports. Harvey, born in Jacksonville, FL, and raised in a seven-child household, found his love for the field of technology thanks to his father, who worked as a pastor and AT&T project manager, the outlet notes. His father would bring home computers that were not functioning properly, and Harvey took the initiative to learn how to fix them. Foreshadowing his future, he would obtain a computer science degree from HBCU Mississippi Valley State University in 2008. He later scaled his education obtaining a master’s degree and Ph.D. in the same field between 2010 and 2015, his LinkedIn profile mentions. Among his career pathways included a role as chief of operations data science at the National Security Agency (NSA). His observation at the agency would open his eyes to a gap in the market as it pertains to data and analytics. It wouldn’t be until 2021 that...
While the historic news of Eric Adams being elected as New York City’s second Black mayor is still fresh off the press, the politician is already ten steps ahead with his set game plan. On Nov.4, Eric Adams tweeted that he plans to take his first three city paychecks in bitcoin. The tweet came in after Miami’s mayor Francis Suarez shared that he would take his next paycheck 100% in bitcoin in response to a Twitter user asking who would be the first American politician to do so. “In New York we always go big, so I’m going to take my first THREE paychecks in Bitcoin when I become mayor,” Adams tweeted. “NYC is going to be the center of the cryptocurrency industry and other fast-growing, innovative industries! Just wait!” In New York we always go big, so I’m going to take my first THREE paychecks in Bitcoin when I become mayor. NYC is going to be the center of the cryptocurrency industry and other fast-growing, innovative industries! Just wait! — Eric Adams (@ericadamsfornyc) November...
The legacy of Chadwick A. Boseman lives on. Variety reports that Netflix has just announced the Chadwick A. Boseman Scholarship at the late actor’s alma mater, Howard University. The Chadwick A. Boseman Memorial Scholarship will be geared toward incoming students at the historically Black university’s College of Fine Arts. As previously reported by AfroTech, the newly reestablished college was named after Boseman in May of 2021. The four-year scholarship is worth a whopping $5.4 million and will cover the full cost of university tuition. “It is with immense pleasure and deep gratitude that we announce the creation of an endowed scholarship in honor of alumnus, Chadwick Boseman, whose life and contributions to the arts continues to inspire,” said Howard University President Wayne A.I. Frederick, M.D. in an official statement. “This scholarship embodies Chadwick’s love for Howard, his passion for storytelling, and his willingness to support future generations of Howard students. I am...
Last year, online learning and talent platform Udacity announced the launch of a free scholarship program that pledged to help emerging Black techies develop new tech skills for their careers. Today, the company has announced the completion of said pledge that’s working to build a stronger pipeline of Black tech talent in the industry. According to a press release, Udacity — which uses its platform to power the careers of the future — has declared that its Pledge to Equality Scholarship program has helped 730 recipients complete more than 1,100 projects as part of their coursework and hired seven graduates as company interns across different departments. The scholarship program was initially launched to offer free Udacity Nanodegree programs to Black communities across the U.S. The company also arranged to host a virtual career fair featuring seven different companies and contributed over $1 million to cover the cost of these free Nanodegree programs for learners. According to...
By now, we know their names, their stories, and their hashtags — with the latest, alas, being Daunte Wright. With police brutality being what it is in the United States — and showing no signs of improvement or change — being Black in America can be nothing but terrifying. And that’s exactly how Legal Equalizer founder Mbye Njie felt when he got pulled over for the first time. Originally from Gambia, West Africa, Njie moved to the U.S. in 1990 when he was just nine-years-old, and ultimately settled in Atlanta. Despite “doing everything right,” and following the directives of the law, he was still subjected to subhuman treatment at the hands of the police. “I got pulled over three times in one day , for no reason! Then, on the third time, they said that I had a warrant out for my arrest, when I didn’t. And they put me in handcuffs. I was working at an insurance company at the time — what sort of threat was I? ” he asked AfroTech. “Fortunately, I walked out of there with my life....
The days of men being the face of the spirits industry are behind us as women are being ushered to the forefront and making their mark along the way. Black women specifically have found a way to become trailblazers in this space as they’re not only the owners behind some of today’s most popular spirits brands, they’ve also managed to build successful businesses based on powerful origin stories. As we celebrate Women’s History Month this year, we’re also honoring the Black women who are becoming leaders across the spirits industry and breaking barriers with their brands. Check out the below spirit brands and the powerful Black women owners behind them: AVEC Drinks Courtesy of AVEC Drinks AVEC Drinks was founded by Bronx native Dee Charlemagne and U.K. native Alex Doman and successfully launched on the market in June 2020 amid the pandemic. Within its first four months, AVEC managed to bring in roughly $100,000 in revenue, selling through its first batch of 40,000 cans. AVEC is...
Thasunda Brown Duckett has made modern history, becoming the second Black woman to be named as a Fortune 500 CEO in 2021. According to CNN, Thasunda Brown Duckett achieved this accomplishment by being named the new CEO of The Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America-College Retirement Equities Fund. The TIAA, as it’s known, is a Fortune 100 financial services organization that is the leading provider of financial services in the academic, research, medical, cultural and governmental fields. Duckett will succeed Roger W. Ferguson Jr. in the role, beginning May 1, 2021. Brown Duckett’s role follows the appointment of Rosalind Brewer as the new CEO of Walgreen’s drug stores. “Thasunda Brown Duckett is widely recognized as an exceptionally dynamic and inspirational leader,” said Ronald L. Thompson, who chairs the board of the $1 trillion money management firm, to CNN. “She brings invaluable experience leading and growing large, complex businesses, setting and executing...
Workforce development is a sector across all industries that contributes to America’s economic superpower to create jobs rapidly. In an effort to maintain that reputation, the U.S. Department of Labor has officially approved Black-led tech startup ChargerHelp! — the first and only on-demand repair app for electric vehicle charging stations founded by LA natives Kameale C. Terry and Evette Ellis — for an O-NET Code. According to a press release, this code is the official identification for occupational information used by students, job seekers, and businesses. Thus, ChargerHelp! now has the ability to create more job opportunities for certified technicians. “The validation and value the U.S. Department of Labor’s O-net code brings to any industry and workforce development is extremely vital,” said Ellis — co-founder and Chief Workforce Officer — in a statement. “We are honored to have lead the way and laid the foundation for our technicians to be nationally recognized by name and...
Studies show that driving while Black can lead to racial profiling and even death. In fact, according to research conducted by Nature Human Behaviour , Black drivers are 20 percent more likely to experience a run-in with law enforcement once they get behind the wheel. To combat unlawful traffic stops and other emergencies, activist Mbye Njie founded Legal Equalizer , a mobile app that allows users to record encounters with police officers, immigration officers, or active shooters. Once a user downloads the app, they can connect Legal Equalizer to a Zoom account, which automatically begins to capture the interaction once prompted. I first got the idea for @legaleqapp 6 years ago right around this time. We had just witnessed the death of Eric Garner and than we read about the death of Mike Brown in Ferguson shortly after. We immediately saw protests similar to the protests that we see today. https://t.co/k7Q6U7v3KX — National Champion Mbye Njie #GoDawgs (@mnjie) August 24, 2020 In...
This article was originally published on 05/03/2019 Over the past few years, the issue of police violence disproportionately impacting Black and brown communities has made its way back into conversations among politicians and the mainstream media. From Ferguson to Baltimore to the Movement for Black Lives, communities have continued protesting against fatal police shootings. However, the sheer number of deaths can make it almost impossible to keep track of everything. According to Mapping Police Violence , police killed 1,147 people in 2017, and Black people made up 25% of the victims. The following year, there were only 23 days where someone wasn’t killed by the police. Gathering information on every individual case would be nearly impossible for just one person. That’s why founders Rachel Green and Mark Nyon developed End Bias (EB) Wiki , a crowd-sourced wiki on Github containing information about people of color that die as a result of police action. “Our goal is to provide a...