A Black developer has crafted a project intended for the culture! Keenan Kelley is the founder of For The Culture, created to encourage the Black community to take root in the ever-growing world of Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) and take back ownership of their traditions. Kelley was compelled to release the collection after recognizing there were very few Black pioneers in the Web3 space. “When I came into the space last year, I did not see a lot of representation from us. Not only do we not have as many artists and developers building out these projects, [but I also] noticed that there was a lot of cultural appropriation and undertones of racism in some of these projects that were coming out because there was a lack of Black representation,” Kelley told AfroTech. Kelley is now creating a pathway to diversify the NFT space and the founder encourages more Black creators to control their narratives on the blockchain. For The Culture honors Kelley’s stance through its 2,021 unique profile...

When you discover your passion as an adolescent, it often becomes something that never leaves you, regardless of where life takes you. From painting and making digital art to now recently creating non-fungible tokens (NFTs), Lana Denina has yet to shake off her adoration for art. Since she took her craft to a professional level at age 19, she has continued to find ways to bring Black representation into the space. Inspired by tribes around the globe and their features, Denina is all about showcasing their beauty in a field where for ages its mainstream art has been centered on European standards. “When I was young, I was telling myself that I wanted to be an artist. And I wasn’t seeing like a lot of Black artists in museums and art galleries,” Denina told AfroTech. “Growing up when I was exposed to a lot of art, I was living in France and it was really mainly white male French painters. I didn’t feel like it was representative enough of what art can be. So, that’s why I want to...

Racism exists even in the metaverse — even in a new NFT collection — and it’s exhausting. Vice reports that as the non-fungible token (NFT) cryptocurrency continues to grow and expand so does the number of racist collections. From NFTs depicting George Floyd deemed as “Floydies,” to more recently a project by the name of “Meta Slave” the collections continue to shock the masses. The new NFT collection features images of Black people and rather than apologizing following the backlash, the OpenSea platform has simply rebranded to have the collection include white, Asian, etc.” NFTs. The creation was brewed up by a user that goes by the name of “Unipic” who operated under the now deactivated Twitter handle @UniqueFractal. Initially, the collection pledged its support to the Black Lives Matter movement and aimed to honor the late George Floyd, but the actual images associated with the project deem otherwise. “Hi, there! We are glad to inform you that we have launched the first sales of...

Autograph, a non-fungible token (NFT) platform, is off to quite the start. Since its release, AfroTech has shared its collections from Naomi Osaka, Simone Biles, Tiger Woods , and Usain Bolt, who are all on its board of advisors. Now, the platform — founded by Tom Brady — has started 2022 off with a bang.

The rise of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and the metaverse are some of the biggest tech phenomenons of the year, and quite arguably some of the most notable innovations since the internet hit society. People may still be coming to terms with what NFTs are, but put more simply, NFTS are blockchain-backed certificates that guarantee the authenticity of a piece of digital media. Look what Jack Dorsey did with his first tweet, which sold as an NFT for $2.9 million. But NFT ownership doesn’t just belong to the big spenders — learn how to mint your first NFT in this recent story Afrotech published. Some experts have also expressed skepticism about the rise and sustainability of NFTs, but for now, they seem promising. As the year winds down and the NFT craze continues to consume the tech industry, check out these NFT collections and projects we’ve been watching.

While non-fungible tokens (NFTs) bring historical moments to life in the digital space, NFL star Malcolm Jenkins is taking a step further into the future by creating opportunities toward generational wealth with his debut collection. On Nov. 18, the New Orleans Saints safety will release his NFT collection, “A Minted Legacy.” The three exclusive 1-of-1 NFTs are of pivotal moments in his 13-year NFL career, in which partial proceeds of one of the tokens will help in closing the racial wealth gap by creating more opportunities for Black and brown communities, according to a press release provided exclusively to AfroTech. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Malcolm Jenkins (@malcolmjenkins) The release of “A Minted Legacy” is ahead of the NFL showdown between the Saints and Philadelphia Eagles (Jenkins’ former team) on Nov. 21. The three NFTs represent personal significant moments for him during his time on the field. Jenkins pays homage to Philly with his first NFT titled...