All results
The 2024 election cycle is upon us, which means a slew of campaign ads, varied media coverage, and policy positions that could influence voters on who to support and how. Aside from the historic positioning of Kamala Harris as the nation’s first woman Democratic nominee for president, Michigan has its own historic slant with Hill Harper submitting his candidacy for U.S. Senate. Harper, most known for his acting roles on shows like “CSI: NY” and “The Good Doctor,” has a resume beyond his acting credits. He’s a Harvard Law School alum, author, and small business owner. These on- and off-screen accomplishments have led him to receive many accolades and have also given him leverage as a potential senator. He is committed to advocating for the rights of Michigan residents, with priorities including creating a robust economic community, supporting union jobs, ensuring affordable and universal health care, protecting reproductive rights, reducing student debt, addressing the climate...
Georgia’s Senate runoffs pulled out a historic win for Democrats this week, giving them majority control of the Senate in a dramatic shift of power. Following the results of Tuesday’s election, GOP Sen. Kelly Loeffler — who’s also co-owner of WNBA’s Atlanta Dream — lost her Georgia Senate seat to Rev. Raphael Warnock. According to Bleacher Report, Loeffler’s stake in the WNBA team is potentially up for grabs, and so NBA legend LeBron James has come forward and expressed his interest in buying her shares to put together an ownership group. Think I’m gone put together an ownership group for the The Dream. Whose in? #BlackVotesMatter ✊🏾 pic.twitter.com/9wclgdED2w — LeBron James (@KingJames) January 6, 2021 James announced his declaration via social media and even chose a photo of players wearing shirts that said “Vote Warnock” to emphasize his point. In July of last year, the Atlanta Dream proudly endorsed Rev. Raphael Warnock, according to BET, who turned out to be the projected...
Thanks to poor federal regulations, it’s up to each individual state to protect their residents’ data. Recently, Maine’s State Senate passed a landmark bill that will look out for people’s internet privacy. Your internet service providers (ISPs) have a lot more information on you than you might think. Your internet history (including the sites you visit, how often, location data, etc.) can tell a lot about you as an individual. Maine’s new bill — LD 946 —now requires that ISPs get people’s consent before selling or offering access to their private data. In a blog post , the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) Maine noted: “The personal information ISPs collect and sell is increasingly being used by advertisers to discriminate against certain communities. Advertisers and data brokers are increasingly using data to decide what prices to advertise to someone, the content they should steer them to, and even the types of loans to offer them.” Although this bill is important, it’s not...
On Wednesday, the Washington State Senate overwhelmingly passed a new privacy bill that aims to tackle a lot of big issues, as reported by My Northwest . The bill, SB-5376 , takes inspiration from European privacy laws and California’s Consumer Protection Act. With this new bill, people would have the right-to-delete — meaning they could request private companies delete information about them or correct inaccurate data. The bill’s primary sponsor, Sen. Reuven Carlyle, said, according to My Northwest, “This bill carefully, responsibly takes the best practices from Europe, California, and other states to build a data privacy regulatory framework that will help set a standard and lead the nation in bringing our data privacy laws into the 21st century.” In addition, the bill would place restrictions on the use of facial recognition technology. State and local governments wouldn’t be able to use the technology without a warrant. This cuts down on the potential of ongoing surveillance....
Unemployment insurance (UI) is a critical safety net for workers. It’s designed to provide temporary financial assistance to people who lose their jobs through no fault of their own. For startups , it’s important to understand the legal obligations around unemployment benefits, especially when navigating the challenges of hiring employees and managing payroll. While large corporations typically have well-established unemployment insurance practices, startups may be less familiar with the requirements. This article explores whether startups are required to offer unemployment benefits, how unemployment insurance works, and what employees and founders should expect. Understanding Unemployment Insurance And Employer Responsibilities Unemployment insurance is a joint federal-state program that provides financial assistance to eligible workers who are unemployed for reasons beyond their control. Each state administers its unemployment insurance program within federal guidelines. This...
Editorial Note: Opinions and thoughts are the author’s own and not those of AFROTECH™. Often, those who rank in seniority get to speak for the broader community. How long does that work though, and how long should it last? It’s a question that comes up whenever someone of a previous generation is asked to speak or is seen as a representative during a current crisis a community is facing. AFROTECH™ previously reported that after Target rolled back its commitments to DEI, the retail store has seen a decline in foot traffic for the past 10 weeks. Target was one of the brands that, in the wake of the murder of George Floyd in 2020, put a lot of time and money towards pushing for racial justice and diversity, equity, and inclusion across the board. After the decline, The New York Post reported that Target CEO Brian Cornell met with Reverend Al Sharpton about its DEI policies, but should Sharpton be the one speaking for us? Sharpton came to prominence during the 1970s with his focus on...
After spending significant dollars in DEI efforts, the University of Michigan has closed two offices tied to equity and inclusion. The Detroit Free Press reports that the public research university has spent nearly $250 million on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts in recent years. However, the university has now decided to dismantle its Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (ODEI) and the Office for Health Equity and Inclusion (OHEI).” “Student-facing services in ODEI will shift to other offices focused on student access and opportunity,” the school said in a statement on its website, according to the outlet. The statement also read: “The DEI 2.0 Strategic Plan, the umbrella strategy for schools, colleges and units, will be discontinued, along with DEI 2.0 unit plans, related programming, progress reporting, training and funding. Individual leads, who have supported DEI efforts in schools, colleges and units, will refocus their full effort on their core...
On March 15, 2025, the U.S. bombed Houthi terrorist targets across Yemen. But two hours before the world knew, a Signal message had already mapped the strike. The sender? Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. The recipients? Top intelligence officials, but also Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of The Atlantic — a journalist inadvertently folded into the highest levels of American military planning. This wasn’t a clandestine leak. It was a raw, unfiltered display of the fragility of power in the digital age. It was a breach not orchestrated by a hostile foreign actor but self-inflicted — executed casually, almost thoughtlessly, by the nation’s top security officials on a consumer messaging app. For those of us who approach these matters with a deep understanding of U.S. statecraft and a critical perspective shaped by intellectual and resistance traditions, the story may demand more than mere procedural outrage. It calls for an unflinching analysis of how an empire, when unmoored from...
In the wake of the catastrophic midair collision between an American Airlines plane and a U.S. military helicopter near Washington, DC — one of the deadliest in more than two decades — President Donald Trump has falsely pointed to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) policies as a possible contributor to the crash. Though there are urgent questions surrounding aviation safety and regulatory oversight, Trump has suggested that DEI initiatives “could have been” to blame despite no factual connection between diversity efforts and the circumstances of the crash. Yet, just days before this devastating collision, Trump made a decision that leaves questions about his judgement. Based on a report from the New Republic, he eliminated the full membership of the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) Aviation Security Advisory Committee, a move that effectively removed key leadership that has overseen regulatory compliance and risk mitigation within the industry since 1988. He also fired...
DEI terms are being removed from some public colleges. According to a landing page from The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin), Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed Senate Bill 17, titled “Responsibility of Governing Boards Regarding Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Initiatives,” on June 14, 2023. The bill restricts diversity, equity, and inclusion offices, as well as the programs, activities, and trainings across public institutions of higher education. It went into effect in January 2024. “DEI programs have been shown to be exclusive, they have been shown to be ineffective and they have shown to be politically charged,” Sen. Brandon Creighton, R-Conroe, the ban’s author, stated on the Senate floor, according to The Texas Tribune in February 2024. “Many of these programs have been weaponized to compel speech instead of protecting free speech.” An internal memo shared in November 2024 by TikTok user momuniversity, who was a UT Austin educator at the time, provided updated...
TikTok will remain operational for at least another 75 days following an order from President Donald Trump. On Monday, Jan. 19, 2025, during his first day in office , Trump — who has the authority to delay the ban for up to 90 days — ordered the federal government to pause enforcing the law that would ban TikTok nationwide, according to Forbes. The move gives ByteDance, the China-based owner of TikTok, more time to sell a stake in the platform or reach a deal with Trump. After signing the executive order, Trump said he believes the U.S. is entitled to 50% of TikTok and warned China that blocking any deal he may make would be considered an act of “hostility” and lead him to impose tariffs ranging from 25% to 100%, per Forbes. On Sunday, Jan. 20, Trump had promised to sign an executive order on Monday rescinding the ban, prompting TikTok to restore service for its more than 170 million American users after it initially took the app dark the night before. STATEMENT FROM TIKTOK: In...
Business owners are watching a back-and-forth battle that’s become tougher than playing tennis against Coco Gauff , and neither side is backing down. The two opponents? Business owners (specifically a Texas gun shop, the National Small Business Association and the state of Alabama) versus the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), a bureau of the U.S. Department of the Treasury (USDOT). What are they debating about? Nationwide business owners being required to file the Beneficial Ownership Information Report (BOIR) before January 1, 2025 in order to avoid a $591 fine, criminal penalties of up to two years in prison and repeat offenses that could lead to them owing $10K. What Is The Beneficial Ownership Information Report (BOIR)? Effective January 1, 2024, many companies in the United States must report information about their beneficial owners (the people who own or control their companies) to FinCEN , a bureau of USDOT. Filing is free and a onetime occurrence in order to...
Editorial Note: Opinions and thoughts are the author’s own and not those of AFROTECH™. President-elect Donald Trump is starting to fill out the list of people who will be closest to him during his second term in office. It was announced that Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy will head an organization called the Department of Government Efficiency , which aims to ensure that tax dollars are being allocated properly and to reduce bureaucracy. DOGE, as it is being called around the internet, will not be a formal body within the government but will instead operate outside of it in an advisory capacity. As Trump and Musk continue to build a closer relationship with one another, we may see Musk’s views pushed through the Trump administration’s actions, and perhaps DOGE is the first iteration of that. While many know who Musk is, Ramaswamy is a lesser-known public figure. Ramaswamy is the founder of Roivant Sciences, a life science and drug development company, and he also ran for the...
With the second-time win of President Donald Trump, American citizens can expect the introduction of several changes to our political ecosystem. One of them is a proposal that he outlined in the Agenda47 documents , as well as Project 25 . He plans to drain the Department of Education (DOE) of all funding, shutting it down and leaving the responsibility of education to each individual state. The approval of this proposal would threaten the quality of education and safety of K-12 students of color and underserved demographics. It’s undetermined whether the proposal will be approved . Simultaneously, it sheds light on the DOE and what K-12 students would be losing access to should it be shut down. But what exactly does the DOE do? What Is The Department of Education? The origins of the DOE date back to 1867. Former President Andrew Johnson signed the legislation that created the department. Its purpose was to create an area of the government in which information and statistics about...