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Vanessa Jean-Baptiste opened the first Black woman-owned dispensary on the East Coast this past weekend, WPRI reported. Baptiste welcomed customers to Legal Greens for the first time on Sunday, March 28. The new dispensary is located in Brockton, Massachusetts, and WPRI reported that the historic cannabis store has been in the works for three years. “It means a lot to me because we worked really hard to get to where we are at,” Jean-Baptiste told WPRI. There was a line of people waiting to support Jean-Baptiste and Brockton’s newest local Black-owned business on Sunday before the doors opened at 8 a.m. Jean-Baptiste was born and raised in Brockton and she opened this new dispensary with the hopes of bringing a positive impact to the community. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Legal Greens (@legal_greens) “This is the first woman Black-owned business in the legal market on the East Coast which is as exciting as the first stores that opened in November of 2018,” Davide...
As Amazon unveils new technology, it is also proving to be a win for its employees. Vulcan At Amazon’s 2025 Delivering the Future event held May 6–7 in Dortmund, Germany, the company introduced the Vulcan, Amazon’s first robot with a sense of touch. Made possible by an artificial intelligence-powered sensor, it is the first of its kind and is able to use video rather than still images to monitor and control its motions, as noted by Aaron Parness, Amazon’s director of applied science in robotics and artificial intelligence. “We’re at the golden age for robotics. AI is allowing us to develop systems that can interact with the physical world and not just the ones on our screens,” Parness said during the Main Event held at Amazon’s Last Mile Innovation Center. Vulcan will be beneficial to its employees who are fulfilling orders for customers at the company’s facilities thanks to the robot’s ability to pick and stow away 75% of the items stored in the warehouses. “One of the really...
Nonprofit 826 Boston is willing to lose significant funding from the federal government to uphold DEI. The Massachusetts-based organization, which offers writing, tutoring, and publishing services for educational purposes, will no longer seek federal funding . In a letter, it confirmed that the decision follows the Trump administration’s directive for agencies to dismantle DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) programs if receiving federal grant and contracts. Standing on its mission to support students and reflect the diversity of its community, the nonprofit will withdraw its application to receive a $250,000 federal grant for the 2025–2026 AmeriCorps program year. The organization made this decision in order to uphold DEI in its hiring practices, according to CBS News. “826 Boston’s six Writers’ Rooms in Boston Public Schools are staffed with one full time Writers’ Room Manager and two AmeriCorps service members,” Executive Director Corey Yarbrough stated in a letter, per the...
Gabby Thomas is chasing purpose not a check. The Harvard University alum and track runner, who boasts several gold medals at the Olympic level, has remained grounded throughout all her success over the years. This she attributes to her upbringing in a single-parent household. Thomas views her mother, Jennifer Randall, as a “superhero” and credits her for the work ethic that she carries today on and off the field. According to information shared on the Olympics page, Randall moved her family to Massachusetts from Georgia with few financial resources so she could obtain a Ph.D. while teaching. Today, she is a professor at the University of Michigan, her LinkedIn states. “She showed me what leading with work ethic and compassion looks like on a daily basis,” Thomas told AFROTECH™ in an email interview. “Furthermore, she led with a focus on education and giving back. She taught me that leaving a place better than you found it is not only the nice thing to do, but the right thing to do....
Despite major record labels suing it for its AI technology, Timbaland is standing beside Suno, the music creation program. As AFROTECH™ previously told you, Timbaland aligned himself with the artificial intelligence (AI) music creation tool Suno in October 2024, taking on the title of its strategic advisor. He had already been an avid user of the platform for several months. “You can put out great songs in minutes,” he said during an interview with Rolling Stone. “I always wanted to do what Quincy Jones did with Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’ when he was [almost] 50. So my ‘Thriller,’ to me, is this tool. God presented this tool to me. I probably made a thousand beats in three months, and a lot of them—not all—are bangers and from every genre you can possibly think of. I just did four K-pop songs this morning!” Timbaland’s embrace of AI is not new. While speaking at the AFROTECH™ Conference in November 2023, during a panel titled “From Producer to Founder: A Conversation with...
Editorial Note: Opinions and thoughts are the author’s own and not those of AFROTECH™. During Donald Trump’s second presidential campaign, his relationship with the tech industry was highlighted due to his budding relationship with Elon Musk , who spent $288 million to help elect Trump. While many people in tech believe this is when the federal government started to embrace the tech industry, the relationship with the federal government was started by former President Barack Obama during his campaign and subsequently expanded while he was in office. Obama first supported technology via social media on the presidential campaign trail in 2008. Facebook had been founded on Harvard University’s campus four years before his campaign, and due to its connection with the younger electorate, he leveraged it in a way not seen before, though it has been seen since with Donald Trump’s embrace of X. Obama’s campaign used Facebook to target younger voters, empower grassroots organizations, and...
Paula Wright has built an empire of McDonald’s restaurants, having made history at the start of the franchise era. According to MetroWest Daily News, Wright and her late husband, Don, became New England’s first Black McDonald’s franchisees in 1984. Before venturing into the fast-food industry, she had a career in technology at IBM. “A co-worker of mine, her husband was in the business,” Wright told the outlet. “That’s how Don and I got involved.” Their first location was in a newly built mall in downtown Boston, MA. However, the business did not fare well due to low foot traffic, with capacity never more than 60%. “There just weren’t enough people there,” Wright recalled to the outlet. The couple then secured a second location, but once again, sales did not match their expectations, which they believe was due to construction for TD Garden, a multi-purpose arena that opened in 1995. However, success would come when they moved into the suburbs. “We lived in Sudbury (MA), so when we...
Cherryrock Capital has raised $172 million to support diverse founders. The venture capital firm, founded in 2023 by Stacy Brown-Philpot (Managing Partner) — head of Alphabet Inc.’s online sales and operations in India and board member at HP Inc., StockX, and Noom Inc. — provides Series A and B funding to underrepresented founders of software companies driving innovation, according to its website. The VC firm, backed by a team with over 60 years of operating experience, has closed its first fund at $172 million, Bloomberg reports. “Today, I’m thrilled to announce the launch of Cherryrock Capital, the first fund focused on investing at the Series A & B stages in underinvested entrepreneurs …Cherryrock Capital is about being the foundation of success for the next generation of entrepreneurs…We’re on a mission to change the face of wealth creation and build an enduring institution. We are looking for founders who have the courage to be audacious in their vision, accountable to their...
Dave’s Hot Chicken is considering a sale that would bring the company’s valuation to nearly $1 billion. The popular fast-food chain, founded by Dave Kopushyan, Arman Oganesyan, Tommy Rubenyan, and Gary Rubenyan, has locations in states such as Arizona, Massachusetts, California, Missouri, and Texas. In total, the chain has over 250 locations worldwide, per Reuters. It all started in 2017 with a $900 investment that led to the restaurant’s grand opening as a pop-up in an East Hollywood, CA, parking lot, its website mentions. Its menu features chicken tenders and sliders with spice levels ranging from Lite Mild to Reaper. Sides include fries, mac and cheese, and kale slaw. View this post on Instagram A post shared by DavesHotChicken (@daveshotchicken) The company’s business model appears to be a success with each franchise earning on average $2.19 million in revenue (AUV) per year, according to Sharp Sheets. In total, its locations generate an estimated $1 billion in total annual...
Byron Allen’s Allen Media Group is terminating or reassigning all local meteorologists at its nearly two dozen stations nationwide, replacing them with a feed broadcasted to individual stations from The Weather Channel, which he also owns. According to CNN, the layoffs will impact at least 50 meteorologists at stations from Massachusetts to Hawaii. Carl Parker, a veteran storm and climate specialist at The Weather Channel, is leading the initiative, which will give some of the affected meteorologists new jobs at its Atlanta, GA-based hub, and others will have the option to stay in their current markets. The Weather Channel will deploy meteorologists during certain weather events. In a news release on Saturday, Jan. 18, 2025, Allen Media said the “groundbreaking” operation “brings together world-class meteorological expertise, cutting-edge technology, and the most advanced forecasting tools to deliver superior weather content to local television station audiences.” “We are proud to...
Shaquille O’Neal went several years without spending a dime of his first NBA paycheck. O’Neal’s glory days in the league date back to June 24, 1992. He was drafted by the Orlando Magic as a first-round draft pick, according to ESPN. His initial contract was a four-year deal valued at $17,400,000, notes Spotrac. O’Neal’s talent and charisma made him a sought-after player among companies looking to endorse the young player. In fact, he sustained himself solely through his endorsements until he had his first child, Taahirah, in 1996. “I didn’t spend my first NBA check until I started having children. I had so much coming in, I was like, ‘NBA money over there, and I’ll just live off endorsement money,'” he said during a 2022 interview with Gayle King on “CBS Mornings.” When he became a free agent, he signed with the Los Angeles Lakers, ultimately leading to three national championship rings. He earned his fourth with the Miami Heat in his 14th career year. Beyond his success on the...
Lupe Fiasco is stepping into academia to share his insights on rap! The artist, born Wasalu Muhammad Jaco, announced on Instagram that he will join Johns Hopkins University’s Peabody Institute this fall as a professor for its four-year Hip Hop degree program. The program is led by Hip-Hop producer Wendel Patrick, who serves as an associate professor of music engineering and technology at the Peabody Conservatory. “Thrilled to share that I’ll be joining the faculty at the prestigious Johns Hopkins University’s Peabody Institute in Fall 2025 as a Distinguished Visiting Professor,” Lupe Fiasco wrote on Instagram. The rapper behind “The Show Goes On” later added, “The @peabodyinstitute is one of the oldest music conservatories in America. World renowned for its rigorous training and for producing some of the world’s greatest musicians, and I’m honored to contribute to this legacy doing what I love most, Rap.” As for what students can expect, the course will include lessons with a...
If you spent any time tuned into the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, France, you’re likely already familiar with the name Gabby Thomas. The young athlete has been turning heads for a few years now but truly established herself as a force to be reckoned with in the world of athletics by scoring a whopping three gold medals in the sprint and relay categories. Like some of her U.S. Olympic teammates , Thomas serves as the subject of the newly-released Netflix docu-series Sprint: The World’s Fastest Human’s Part 2 . The series, which premiered on the streamer on Nov. 13, showcases a few of the most prolific athletes currently competing for the title of fastest human being of all time as they outline their painstaking training regiment ahead of their Olympic performances. Given that Gabby Thomas is currently such a hot topic in the pop culture zeitgeist, now seems like as good a time as any to take a look at her career history, revenue streams and overall net worth to see what we can...
It’s been almost 12 years since the tragic Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting took the lives of 26 people (20 of them children) in Newton, Connecticut. While Alex Jones, a well-known right-wing commentator and owner of Infowars, has since taken back his comments about the incident being a hoax , he still owes the families of the victims over $1 billion in personal damages after they took legal action against him for emotional distress and defamation. Despite the controversy surrounding his name , “ Jones and other right-wing commentators once on the fringe have catapulted in popularity as many people have moved away from traditional news sources,” the Associated Press notes. Thanks to those who still support him, the 50-year-old has made millions from his radio and internet shows, plus the sale of nutritional supplements, survival gear, clothing and other merchandise, keeping him afloat in tense times. Two years after filing for bankruptcy, Jones stands to lose the company he’s...