Lewis Hamilton has made it his mission to diversify his sport. Hamilton, raised in North London, England, began racing at 8 years old and experienced a lack of representation in the sport firsthand. However, winning created an opportunity for him to feel accepted, he admits in conversation with GQ. “Being the only Black kid on the circuit, struggling at school, really always my big drive was acceptance — ‘If I win the race, I will receive that acceptance in this world,'” he expressed.   View this post on Instagram   A post shared by AFROTECH (@afro.tech) Hamilton began to allocate a lot of his time towards go-karting at a young age with the support of his father, Anthony, who was his mentor and manager, Formula 1 reports. Anthony simultaneously had three jobs at a time to support his son’s driving career. The sacrifice would pay off even within Hamilton’s childhood years. “We won the first six races…Then we just kept going. We kept winning. We kept winning championships,” Hamilton...

Florida A&M University (FAMU) has lost a significant grant that helped produced 60% of the nation’s Ph.D. graduates in pharmaceutical sciences. According to the Tallahassee Democrat, the Historically Black College and University’s (HBCU) pharmacy school and its Research Centers in Minority Institutions (RCMI) program will not receive planned funding because a $16.3 million grant supporting them was terminated on March 21. The grant, awarded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and renewed in 2024, was originally scheduled to run through March 2029. “The funding was awarded to support new faculty hires and enhanced research in key areas such as artificial intelligence, bioinformatics and cancer biology,” FAMU Interim President Timothy Beard said in a statement, according to the outlet. “For nearly 40 years, faculty and graduate students have relied on this center to conduct biomedical and health research.” He also mentioned, “The program is a critical contributor to the...

Costco’s consumer base is on the rise. According to Retail Brew, the retailer has continued seeing an increase in its foot traffic, having reached its 13th consecutive week during the week of March 17. Costco’s influx of customers is in part due to its decision to uphold diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). It sparked a “buy in” led by Civil Rights activist Rev. Al Sharpton in January 2025 at Costco Wholesale, 1055 Hudson St., in Union, NJ. “We are planning to release a boycott list in the coming days,” Sharpton told TMZ at the time. “But in the interim, we are going to do a ‘buy-cott,’ which means we are going to support those who support diversity.” As AFROTECH™ previously told you, Costco’s board of directors requested for its shareholders to vote against a proposal from the National Center for Public Policy Research (NCPPR) that would dismantle its DEI programs. “Our success at Costco Wholesale has been built on service to our critical stakeholders: employees, members, and...

The Walt Disney Company and its ABC television network have joined the list of media companies the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is investigating for their diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) practices. On Thursday, March 27, 2025, FCC Chair Brendan Carr announced concerns that Disney and ABC might be “promoting invidious forms of DEI discrimination” and said the agency’s Enforcement Bureau would examine whether any of their past or current policies violated any equal employment opportunity regulations, according to NPR. “Numerous reports indicate that Disney’s leadership went all in on invidious forms of DEI discrimination a few years ago and apparently did so in a manner that infected many aspects of your company’s decisions,” Carr wrote in a letter to Disney CEO Robert Iger. The inquiry follows Disney’s reduction of diversity efforts , including the termination of some initiatives and changes in the language used to describe DEI. “We are reviewing the Federal...

President Trump is back on his trade war wave — and this time, it’s rolling straight through the auto industry. With a fresh round of 25% tariffs on cars and auto parts set to take effect on April 3, people from the auto industry, from C-suites to dealership floors, are bracing for the impact. The administration says it’s about protecting national security and strengthening the U.S. manufacturing base. But if you’re thinking about buying a car this year, or if your job has anything to do with auto production, here’s the truth: You may be paying more, waiting longer, and dealing with fewer options. And that’s just the beginning. Why The White House Is Saying This Is Necessary According to an official statement from the White House, these tariffs on cars are aimed at keeping America safe. The administration is emphasizing that too many imports are “undermining” the “domestic industrial base” and weakening the U.S. supply chain. The idea is to hit foreign-made cars and parts with a 25%...

JPMorgan Chase is altering the name of what was formerly its DEI program. As AFROTECH™ previously told you, JPMorgan Chase seemingly positioned itself with the stance that it would uphold diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts despite pressures from the National Legal and Policy Center (NLPC), a conservative nonprofit organization. There has been a sweeping shift with many companies aligning themselves with policies from President Donald Trump’s administration, which has dismantled DEI programs and initiatives in the federal government through executive orders. “Bring them on,” JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon told CNBC at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, in January 2025. “We are going to continue to reach out to the Black community, the Hispanic community, the LGBT community , the veterans community.” The following month, JPMorgan Chase joined companies such as Morgan Stanley, Citigroup, Wells Fargo, and Bank of America in removing or toning down language...

Disney shareholders have rejected a proposal that would require it to withdraw from a corporate equality index. According to its website, the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s Corporate Equality Index (CEI) is intended to uphold LGBTQ+ workplace inclusion through its benchmarking tool that measures “corporate policies, practices, and benefits pertinent to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ+) employees.” “For 22 years, the CEI has served as corporate America’s roadmap for LGBTQ+ workplace inclusion—not as a political statement, but as a framework for building stronger, more competitive businesses where all talent can thrive,” Human Rights Campaign President Kelley Robinson said in a statement shared in its 2025 CEI report. She later added, “The path forward requires courage, commitment, and clarity of purpose. We will continue to serve as a partner on this journey. Together, we’re building not just better workplaces, but a stronger, more competitive, and more...

Jamie Foxx is not here for the anti-Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) narratives circulating in Hollywood . Foxx — born Eric Marlon Bishop — is the producer of Apple TV+’s “Number One On the Call Sheet,” a documentary that explores Black achievement in the film industry and the challenges Black women face in finding success. At the Los Angeles, CA, premiere on March 13, 2025, the Academy Award-winning actor emphasized the film’s importance, stating that it is more relevant now than ever. “Look what’s going on out there. They trying to erase everything we do… They talking about the DEI , affirmative action, we don’t need Black history . Why you picking on our history?” Foxx told Extra. “So, we just do more history. The more you erase, the more we replace. So, that’s all it is. We ain’t gonna be shy about it. Leave us alone. Let us enjoy. Let us all be American.” Since 2024, several high-profile companies have scaled back or eliminated their DEI programs , citing pressure from...