Each year, the world gets a piece of messaging from athletes across all sports genres proclaiming they are more than athletes. This time, the message comes from Deebo Samuel, among the first athletes to invest in Cheribundi. Founded in 2004, Cheribundi is packed with Vitamins A and C. The tart cherry juice also contains potassium, manganese, and various antioxidants. Medical studies have shown that cherry juice has several health benefits. The benefits include increased strength and reduced muscle soreness, particularly beneficial for athletes.

For many Black-owned and family-owned businesses, their missions are often rooted in stories of community, unity and perseverance through life’s obstacles. In the case of Flight — the newest and only state licensed cannabis dispensary in San Francisco’s Park Merced — cousins Eric Grayson, Keena Middleton, and Charles Toney II all teamed up to launch a business that could set an example for their community and honor their family all at once. “It means a lot because we’re from here, but it means a lot more because it took so much effort to even get to this point,” Middleton tells AfroTech. “[Flight] is not your regular business by any means, you can open up a million [other] things before you open up one of these [dispensaries]. It has a lot to do with being Black as well, but to be able to do it with family members means the world.” The dispensary’s name itself is a tribute to Grayson’s mother, Clara Grayson, who passed away from cancer after the family pooled money together to fly...

Marijuana arrests for Black youth in America have a history of threatening to derail their futures. San Francisco native and professional boxer Karim Mayfield faced this same fate at 18-years-old, but now he’s turning that negative into a positive by opening his own cannabis dispensary in his hometown. In addition to being a cannabis dispensary owner, Mayfield is also the owner of SoulChamp — a boxing gym dedicated to offering youth the kind of mentorship that helped turn his own life around as a teen. Mayfield now joins the new generation of Black public figures becoming leaders in the cannabis space, as well as the professional athletes who are incorporating cannabis into their training and wellness regimens. According to a press release, Mayfield earned the opportunity to own a cannabis dispensary through San Francisco’s Cannabis Equity Program, which aims to create prosperity and secure ownership in the cannabis industry for those severely impacted by the War on Drugs. “As a San...

Tired of yelling for a representative when chatting with bots when you call in for customer service at your favorite companies? This CEO is working to change that. Deon Nicholas, CEO of Forethought, says that his three-year-old startup is built differently. For his company, he uses artificial intelligence software rather than automated decision trees. “We know you’ve been burned,” said Nicholas. “But that wasn’t artificial intelligence. It was a lot more artificial than it was intelligent.” The San Fransisco-based company offers a tool called Agatha that works with service agents to help them triage support tickets and resolve them on its own through the use of an AI software that gets smarter at anticipating solutions over time and using natural language processing. So far, the company reports that they have resolved more than 500,000 claims automatically and investors have noticed, per Forbes. In an announcement on Wednesday (Nov. 25), Forethought shared that it’s raised $17...

In San Francisco, homelessness is a highly visible issue. The city’s initial estimates from its 2019 point-in-time count suggest that there’s been an increase of 15-20 percent over the 2017 count. Many within the city feel that tech companies who made Silicon Valley their home need to take responsibility for contributing to the issue. On Tuesday, Google’s CEO Sundar Pichai announced that the company will invest $1 billion in housing across the Bay Area. Pichai shared that over the next ten years, Google will repurpose at least $750 million of its existing office space, adding: “This will enable us to support the development of at least 15,000 new homes at all income levels in the Bay Area, including housing options for middle and low-income families. We hope this plays a role in addressing the chronic shortage of affordable housing options for long-time middle and low income residents.” In addition, Google will put $250 million toward “incentives” for other developers to build 5,000...

On Tuesday, San Francisco officially made history as the first city in the United States to ban government use of facial recognition technology. In a reported 8-to-1 vote , the city’s Board of Supervisors passed the Stop Secret Surveillance Ordinance. The new law restricts all city departments from using facial recognition technology and requires board approval to purchase any new surveillance devices. The Stop Secret Surveillance Ordinance expressed concerns around facial recognition’s potential to exacerbate pre-existing social issues, such as anti-Blackness and over-policing of vulnerable communities. The proposal itself noted that the “propensity for facial recognition technology to endanger civil rights and civil liberties substantially outweighs its purposed benefits”, going on to specifically cite concerns around continuous government monitoring. The coalition supporting the ordinance — made up of civil rights, racial justice, LGBTQ rights, homeless, and immigrants’ rights...

The use of facial recognition technology by law enforcement continues to be a concern for civil rights and privacy advocates. Many point out its potential to worsen pre-existing surveillance of marginalized communities. With that in mind, San Francisco is quickly on its way to becoming the first city to ban facial recognition surveillance. Back in February , San Francisco’s lawmakers proposed the Stop Secret Surveillance Ordinance that would restrict all city departments from using facial recognition tech. In addition, they’d need board approval to purchase any new surveillance devices. Although the proposal has the support of groups like the American Civil Liberties Union and the Electronic Frontier Foundation, one group is notably pushing back: police. The San Francisco Police Officers Association (SFPOA) has not only opposed the bill but Supervisor Aaron Peskin — who introduced the legislation — said his office has been bombarded with identical emails originating from the Police...

In celebration of Black entrepreneurship, the Coalition of Black Excellence is hosting its inaugural summit to nurture relationships between business owners and investors. The CBE Summit will include panel discussions, workshops, and other events for businesses looking to expand and build networks across the country. “ Our goal is to continue to be a space where individuals and organizations dedicated to elevating the black community can come together, give back, amplify our collective impact, and celebrate excellence in the Black community,” CBE Founder and CEO Angela Johnson said. CBE is a non-profit that launched in 2017 after a collective of organizers began planning CBE Week to help support and elevate Black businesses in the San Francisco Bay area. The first CBE was hosted in September 2018, and the organization has since expanded to other events like its summits and a gala with the United Negro College Fund. The speaker sessions for the CBE Summit are categorized into four...