Showing 85 results for:
mississippi
Popular topics
All results
Three historically Black colleges and universities ( HBCUs ) in Mississippi will benefit from a $9.1 million higher education grant the state received to expand artificial intelligence (AI) education , workforce training, and entrepreneurship. According to WJTV 12 News, on June 12, 2025, Governor Tate Reeves announced the grants through the Mississippi AI Talent Accelerator Program (MAI-TAP), aimed at strengthening the state’s workforce and economic future. In addition to the state support, each institution will seek private funding and resources to maximize impact. “This is another bold step forward for Mississippi,” Reeves said. “We’re not just preparing for the future – we’re building it. This investment will help to ensure that Mississippians are equipped with the skills needed to thrive in a rapidly evolving digital economy.” Administered by AccelerateMS, Jackson State University (JSU) in Jackson received $1.3 million to launch the Executive On Roster (XOR) initiative, which...
A small, private Mississippi school that opened nearly three years ago with just six students has grown to approximately 50 in grades prekindergarten through 12th. Leora Hooper founded Abundance Educational Academy in a neglected storefront in Yazoo City, according to The New York Times. She had taught special education at a local public school and sixth-grade social studies at another. However, Hooper’s work in the impoverished community and struggling public school system took its toll and she quit in 2021. Since she left in the middle of the school year, her public-school teaching license was suspended. Inspired to start a new chapter and offer students an alternative as well, she started Abundance, becoming its executive director. Hooper wears many additional hats too: She is a math, social studies, and language arts teacher, an after-school tutor, the registrar, a guidance counselor, co-director of the drum line, a janitor, and receptionist. “I was born to do it,” Hooper said...
Marquitrice Mangham has opened a grocery store in her hometown. According to Capital B News, Mangham was born and raised in Webb, MS, but moved away after high school. Now living in Atlanta, GA, she ventured back part-time to the Mississippi community of less than 500 residents in 2016 after she inherited family farmland. Upon her return, Mangham recognized worsening circumstances had affected housing and businesses in the area. Additionally, for household needs locals could only rely on a Dollar General, which had been in operation since 2009. The nearest grocery store was a 20-mile drive. Mangham decided to support the community by establishing Farmacy Marketplace in 2022. The 2,500-square-foot store sources its fresh foods and meats primarily from local farmers. Additionally, she opened the grocery store under her nonprofit, In Her Shoes, to have access to programs and resources that can sustain the store in the community. “There was only one grocery store in the whole county,...
Intelligence, drive, and ambition seems to run in this family as the father, son and daughter have earned their master’s degree. Commondre Cole alongside his son, Ja’Coby Cole, and his daughter, Iesha Gully were among the graduating class at Mississippi State University. They all earned master’s degrees in education, WXXV25 reports. “This is a big accomplishment for our family,” said in an interview. “Just to keep driving and keep going forward and to lead by example and to show my younger siblings and the rest of my family that we can do it. We started strong, and we finish strong.” When the family achieves success together, the opportunities are endless. With the latest accomplishment, they are now joining the world of educators that are making the world a better place one child at a time.
Netflix has been championing Black stories, creators, and experiences through a more in-depth lens since 2019 with “Strong Black Lead,” which recently celebrated its three-year anniversary. Now, the streaming giant’s co-CEO Reed Hastings and his wife, Patty Quillin, are dedicated to continuing their mission of advancing the Black and LatinX communities, specifically with educational opportunities for disadvantaged students. Variety reports that the wedded couple donated $10 million to Tougaloo College, a Historically Black College and University (HBCU) in Mississippi. The new funding will be split between scholarships for the HBCU and will establish the Brown-Tougaloo Partnership Scholarship Fund at Brown University — founded by the two universities in 1964 “to prosper and thrive so that future generations of Tougaloo and Brown students can keep sharing new perspectives and generating new ideas.” Hastings and Quillin’s donation marks the largest that the school partnership has been...
Xavian Branch has options when it comes to his college decision. According to Blavity, the Mississippi student has been accepted to 20 different colleges and if that news isn’t good enough to jump for joy, the fact that he has also received $1.5 million in scholarship offers definitely is! Branch is a senior at The Jim Hill High School located in Jackson, Mississippi, and is an International Baccalaureate Diploma program participant graduating with a 4.8 GPA. He is also the class valedictorian. “When I look back at all the work that I did, I wouldn’t regret anything,” said Branch in an interview. After applying to colleges thanks to the help of his academic adviser Frank J. Branch, the opportunities are endless as that Branch has been accepted into 20 different schools and has been offered $1.5 million in scholarships. His mother, Zandra Branch is one proud mother and is excited to see all that he continues to accomplish. “I just can’t say enough about my baby,” she said. ” I want...
This Mississippi woman is truly a “Boss Lady!” Pam Chatman, the owner of Boss Lady Workforce Transportation, realized that her community in Cleveland, Mississippi was in dire need of transportation services to get their COVID vaccines. Registering for the vaccine online wasn’t an option, as high-speed Internet is hard to come by in the rural American South. So, Chatman came up with an idea that was truly “boots on the ground” in its nature. “We know here in rural Mississippi, a lot of places here do not have internet. So, it was difficult for them to register,” she said, according to The Atlanta Black Star. “We are now going into Black communities taking mobile facilities there and actually meeting the people and serving the people where they are. We’re going into their communities, into their churches, and providing them the vaccine.” The Mississippi woman expanded her transportation company, Boss Lady Workforce Transportation Services, to include taking people to their vaccine...
Techpreneur and Amazon worker Nashlie Sephus is accomplishing a groundbreaking goal to build a tech hub downtown in her Jackson, Mississippi hometown to help train the next generation of tech geniuses. According to Face2Face Africa, Sephus is turning downtown Jackson — which isn’t well-known for its technology prowess — into a $25 million tech district made up of 12 acres of vacant lots and seven buildings — roughly 500,000 square feet of workspace — to put her community on the map in the tech world. “My goal is to turn this space into a self-sustaining village where people can live, work, play, and eat,” Sephus told Inc. The idea to build up this tech community came to Sephus back in 2018 when she was looking for an office space for her own startup Bean Path — an incubator and technology consulting nonprofit — which has assisted over 400 local businesses and individuals with their technology needs. Her search landed her in the downtown Jackson area, which was once considered a...
Some states are stepping up to the plate in regards to appropriately regulating tech. Recently, Mississippi’s attorney general, Jim Hood, said the state is preparing an antitrust case against Google, as reported by CNBC . “At some point in the future, there will be a reckoning,” Hood said, according to CNBC. “It’ll either be in Congress or in a court of law.” Hood said the case will tackle the privacy practices of Alphabet — Google’s owner — and it’ll be similar to a federal case brought against Microsoft in the late 1990s. In that case, the federal government reviewed antitrust charges against Microsoft. Eventually, the company was charged with acting as a monopoly and limiting competitions on PCs. At the time, they were forcing manufacturers to bundle Internet Explorer on their hardware products before receiving a license for the Windows 98 operating system. Obviously, Microsoft wasn’t forced to split up because they’re still around today. However, the settlement definitely shook...
The unemployment rate for Black women stands at nearly 6%, marking the third consecutive month of high rates among the group — an alarming trend economists see as a warning sign for the broader economy. The 19th, citing Bureau of Labor Statistics data, reported that the unemployment rate for Black women increased from 5.1% in March to 6.1% in April, peaking at 6.2% in May before decreasing slightly to 5.8% in June. In contrast, rates for white and Asian women stayed near 3%, and around 5% for Latinas. Most male subgroups experienced no change, except for Black men, whose rate increased from 5.2% in May to 6.9% in June. Black women lost 38,000 jobs in April, more than any other demographic. Their unemployment increased by 106,000, AFROTECH™ previously reported. This can be troubling, as Black women have the highest labor force participation of any female group, often working in essential sectors such as health care , education, and the federal government. Jasmine Tucker, VP of...
Former college athlete Santia Deck has created a platform she wishes were available while in high school. Deck has launched an all-in-one recruiting and NIL application for overlooked high school athletes , according to Winning Her Way, the sports-focused media company she founded. Recalling her high school days, it was difficult to connect with track college coaches in Texas, she mentioned on the platform. Without a clear blueprint, countless hours were spent sending highlight reels to coaches, just hoping for a response. “When I was a high school athlete, I wanted it so badly. To run track at a college in Texas. To get seen. To get a shot,” she said. Now, Deck has launched Winning Your Way Recruiter. The app will make it easier for college athletes to not only connect with college coaches, but also capitalize on their names, images or likeness (NIL), something that was non-existent during her time playing college sports. The app is available for $15 per month, and high school...
Thanks to online support, this recent high school graduate can now afford to go to college. In May 2025, Mykale Baker received his diploma from Mills Creek High School in Gwinnett County, GA, while adorned with two medals, People reports. Though most graduates might celebrate with a party or dinner with loved ones, Baker instead clocked in to help his co-workers at Burger King. A video of him working at the fast food restaurant in his cap and gown went viral on TikTok, garnering over 706,000 likes (at the time of this writing). Maria Mendoza, 45, was the customer who spotted Baker and shared the video with the caption, “This young man deserves a scholarship!” @mariabonita528 This young man deserves a scholarship!!!! @Carlos_Eduardo_Espina @Burger King #daculaga #burgerking #youngkid #graduated #hardworking #pesopluma #nuevavida ♬ NUEVA VIDA – Peso Pluma “I saw him with his sash and medals. I see Mykale right there, just working with a smile,” Mendoza told WSB-TV 2 in Atlanta. “I...
As the Executive Director of the Virgo Abloh Foundation, Dana Loatman is preserving the late fashion designer’s mission of supporting underrepresented creatives. The New York native credits her time at Bowie State University, Maryland’s oldest HBCU , for sowing the seed of helping overlooked creators, a mission that has guided her career. “That’s where I got my passions really, for investing in our communities and minority communities and really ensuring that we have the same access that our counterparts have,” she explained to “Black Tech Green Money” host Will Lucas. Loatman’s career journey reflects this spirit, including seven years at the Obama Foundation, where she held multiple roles, including senior director, chief of staff, advisor to the CEO, and director of corporate partnerships. Her work helped secure more than $100 million from companies, including Apple, Nike and AT&T, targeting racial and gender equity and investing in future leaders, her LinkedIn notes. As the...
Meharry Medical College will be broadening its reach to Memphis, TN. The Historically Black College and University (HBCU), based in Nashville, TN, has long-term plans to expand to Memphis, TN, as CEO and President James Hildreth told Commercial Appeal. Already, the school held a grand opening for a new medical training facility that will be located at the 23-acre mixed-use campus of Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church, launching its Office of Memphis Programs. “I see this as a wonderful opportunity to turn the tide on and bring about better health care outcomes in the city of Memphis,” said Rev. Jason Turner of Mississippi Boulevard Church, according to the outlet. The training facility will be timely as Meharry Medical College has often sent its students to hospitals in other states due to outstanding commitments local major hospitals already had to train students from other schools. “One of the things that the branch campus in Memphis will do for us is to allow us to have two...