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Atlanta, GA, will continue to be a city of opportunity, according to Mayor Andre Dickens. Affordable Housing Dickens assumed his post as mayor in 2022, and since then he has implemented various plans to the benefit of the city, including providing affordable housing. As AFROTECH™ previously reported, Atlanta’s first rapid housing initiative launched in January 2024 in south downtown on city-owned property. It featured 40 shipping containers that were turned into private living quarters, with the one room including a bed, bathroom, and kitchenette. The initiative encompasses a city-wide goal to establish 20,000 affordable housing units by 2030, which will benefit the unsheltered, senior citizens, families with children, school teachers, and young adults who are not earning a large salary, and other populations. Already, 11,000 affordable housing units have been built. These efforts have also been supported by a $50 million bond proposed by Dickens in 2024, along with $10 million the...
A new venture capital firm is on the block with significant capital at its launch. According to WWMT-3 TV, Kalamazoo Forward Ventures (KZFV), reportedly the first Black-owned investment fund in Southwest Michigan, has launched with $50 million in capital, derived from limited partners. The firm has as its purpose to arm underrepresented founders residing in Kalamazoo, MI, as well as startups. “We came up with that fund by thinking about what we want to accomplish in the community, the ecosystem, and the funds started growing as the ideas started growing,” Eric L. Wimbley, CEO and founder of First Line Risk Management and managing partner of KZFV’s venture capital fund, explained, according to the outlet. Jamauri A. Bogan, CEO of Bogan Developments and KZFV general partner, commented: “It’s our job now as investors to this community and this ecosystem to now get that capital to folks who traditionally never have it.” Also a part of the group is Bobby J. Hopewell, who was the former...
A new housing proposal in Baltimore, MD, is modeled after the city’s property program from a few decades ago. In the 1970s, Baltimore had a “dollar house” program, in which residents got to own vacant properties for $1 each under the requirement of fixing them, according to Bloomberg. Now, the idea to revitalize has surfaced again. The Baltimore Sun reports that Mayor Brandon Scott supported the proposal to offer over 200 vacant properties in Baltimore to people who will repair and live in them. The Baltimore Board of Estimates approved the program on March 20 . The program was designed mainly for individual buyers and community land trusts. However, for $3,000, developers and large nonprofits can also purchase unoccupied houses (small nonprofits would pay $1,000). This proposal is an opportunity to combat an ongoing issue in Baltimore. The Baltimore Sun mentions that unoccupied homes are a big problem throughout the city, numbering more than 13,000. This new program will only cover...
Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens has dished out a proposal for Microsoft. Bloomberg reports that back in 2021, the technology corporation shared it would build a new complex in Grove Park in Atlanta, GA, with a goal to create 15,000 jobs for the city. However, by 2023, it’s reported that Microsoft placed the project on pause due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, Dickens is putting the spotlight back on the initial commitment from Microsoft. According to the outlet, he is set to reach out to the company about the status of the complex. What’s more, if the plan isn’t going to move forward, he aims to either help seize back the land for Atlanta or team up with a developer. “We really want them to develop their property or offer it back to us so we can develop it,” Dickens told the outlet. “Even if you don’t know what you want to do, just let us know what you know you won’t be able to do.” While Bloomberg notes that Microsoft has yet to comment on Dickens’ statement, the...
The year 2022 may be the year of expansion for Kanye West. The rap billionaire recently alluded to plans of launching Yeezy stores globally, beginning first in Georgia. Then, as AfroTech previously reported, Young Thug offered to help. “@KanyeWest I got over 100 acres,” Thugger wrote on his Instagram Stories. “However many you need they’re yours free of charge. On GOD.” However, now, West may have different plans for the land.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams is on to the next area that he wants the city to take part in: Gaming. With a $2 million investment from the City University of New York (CUNY), he has announced that the City College of New York (CCNY) will now offer the city’s first-ever bachelor’s degree in digital game design for a public institution, NYC.gov reports.
Wells Fargo’s alleged discriminatory loan practices seem to be coming with consequences as New York City has announced it will no longer open new depository bank accounts with the company, according to an official letter. AfroTech has been tracking the findings surrounding Wells Fargo’s lending practices, and as we just told you, information released by Bloomberg suggested half of the Black applicants who were looking to refinance their homes were rejected. More recently, we reported Wells Fargo received backlash for allegedly rejecting lower interest rates for Black homeowners leading to a proposed class-action lawsuit in San Francisco, CA. In response, it appears New York City is taking a stand against Wells Fargo’s alleged actions in an official statement released Friday, April 8 by Mayor Eric Adams and Comptroller Brad Lander. “As the Mayor and Comptroller of New York City, a diverse community where Black homeowners own and are the primary residents of more than a quarter of...
Kwame Kilpatrick has a new job — and Detroit may have a new infusion of capital. According to Deadline, the disgraced politician has now started a new business: virtual ministries. “It’s a virtual ministry,” Kilpatrick told Deadline , “so we’ll be everywhere.” While everyone needs a hustle — and good for him for finding his — that hustle is going to cost him quite dearly. As an end result of his crimes, Kwame Kilpatrick still owes more than $4.7 million to the city of Detroit, and to the IRS. He also only served seven years of a 28-year sentence thanks to former President Donald Trump commuting his sentence. Though Trump commuted Kilpatrick’s sentence, which got him out of prison early, he didn’t commute what he owed to the city and to the IRS. “I think the citizens of the city of Detroit, especially the water department and the taxes, the IRS, and anybody else that is owed money from Kwame Kilpatrick would love to see him start a business,” said legal analyst Charlie Langton to WWJ...
Former police officer and newly-elected New York City Mayor Eric Adams has been in office for less than a week. But he’s already causing New Yorkers to shake their collective heads and ask themselves what they’ve really gotten into. The city’s second-ever Black mayor is making headlines because of his comments about essential workers. Eric Adams just said “Low skill workers like cooks, messengers and Dunkin’ Donuts employees don’t have the academic skills to sit in a corner office” pic.twitter.com/KaoY9MNZ8J — Achmat X (@AchmatX) January 4, 2022 In his misguided (at best) speech, Eric Adams referred to essential workers — which included shoe shiners, cooks, dishwashers, and “those who work at Dunkin’ Donuts” — as “low-skilled.” He went on to claim that these workers “don’t have the academic skills” to “sit in a corner office” (Yes, you read that right). The same workers who were getting applause and “thank you” banners at the beginning of the pandemic — who were essential in helping...