Archive
Meet the Founder of a Thriving Black-Owned, Vegan-Friendly Beauty Brand
Meet Nynoka Grant, founder and CEO of Akoyn Beauty, an Atlanta-based Black-owned company that manufactures vegan-friendly personal care specialty products that are especially for women. Their premium soaps, skin creams, and body butter are handmade from the finest all-natural ingredients. Now,
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Linda Rawley Thompson – A Champion of Equity and Diversity for New Hanover County, N.C. – GDN Exclusive
Mrs. Linda Rawley Thompson has been the chief diversity and equity officer for New Hanover County since August and she’s enjoying every minute of it. “My job is to ensure that the rights of individuals throughout our community and within
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Ex-Loves, Lies and Video Game Addictions: Pandemic Secrets
Steve Marrow, who founded the kayak website called Paddle About, knew that during the COVID-19 pandemic, going to a party was out of the question – or at least it should have been. Marrow and his wife went anyway. “I was
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I Just Want My Baby Home’ Says Distraught Mom of Unarmed Black Man Killed by Police
Katie Wright, the mother of the 20-year-old African American man shot and killed by police a short distance from a Minneapolis courtroom where former cop Derek Chauvin stands trial for the murder of George Floyd, is searching for answers. Wright,
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HBCU Grambling State Student To Attend Columbia University, Fulfilling Dying Mother’s Wish
Ayeisha Gipson, a graduating senior at Gambling State University, has endured an almost unimaginable reality over the last few years. The San Diego, CA. native faced the possibility that her seriously ill mother would not survive – and would never
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Florida GOP Lawmakers Vote to Strip Newspapers of Legal Advertising Revenue
Florida lawmakers are acting like alligators who smell blood – they are out for the kill. Their sights set on the struggling newsprint industry, the Florida House passed a bill that would strip the state’s newspapers of desperately needed legal
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Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President on Reparations: “…There Should Be a Discussion About Redress”
Count Raphael Bostic, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, among the growing and vocal majority who support reparations as a way to address the consequences of racism and inequality in America. “There are definitely merits to it in the
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How To Stop Psychopaths and Narcissists From Winning Positions of Power
One of the human race’s biggest problems has been that people who occupy positions of power are often incapable of using power in a responsible way. In the past, this was mostly due to hereditary systems which assigned power to
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At What Age Are People Usually Happiest? New Research Offers Surprising Clues
If you could be one age for the rest of your life, what would it be? Would you choose to be nine years old, absolved of life’s most tedious responsibilities, and instead able to spend your days playing with friends
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MLB’s Decision To Drop Atlanta Highlights the Economic Power Companies Can Wield Over Lawmakers
Major League Baseball knows how to exert leverage over local lawmakers. Over 100 companies, including Delta Air Lines and Coca-Cola, reacted to Georgia’s new restrictive voting law by publicly denouncing it. While some executives are discussing doing more – such as halting donations or delaying
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How Worried Should You Be About Coronavirus Variants? A Virologist Explains His Concerns
Spring has sprung, and there is a sense of relief in the air. After one year of lockdowns and social distancing, more than 171 million COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered in the U.S. and about 19.4% of the population is
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Workers Who Won’t Get Vaccinated? Leaders Can’t Let Them Disrupt Business
COVID-19 has kept most employees out of the office for a year. Vaccines, however, will make it safe to bring them back, and in the process help restore our economy. But the big question is, what about the employees who
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Derek Chauvin Trial: Three Questions to Know About Seeking Racial Justice in a Court of Law
There is a difference between enforcing the law and being the law. The world is now witnessing another in a long history of struggles for racial justice in which this distinction may be ignored. Derek Chauvin, a 45-year-old white former
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IN MEMORIAM: Hip Hop Superstar DMX Has Died at 50 of a Heart Attack
DMX, the sensationally talented and gruff-voiced rap artist and actor who rose from the hardscrabble streets of Yonkers, New York, to become one of hip-hop’s most prolific stars, has died at the age of 50. Most famous for the “Ruff
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Pandemic Recovery Takes More Than Soaring Growth, Countries Must Measure People’s Well-Being Too
Once a country’s economy reaches a certain level of wealth, gross domestic product – which puts a single dollar value on a country’s total economic output – is no longer a good measure of its overall success. That’s a main
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80-Year Old Black Jewelry Designer Makes History, Releases 24K Gold Medallion Launched by Moijey
Black-owned jewelry company, Moijey Fine Jewelry and Diamonds, has teamed up with Brenda Joyce, an international gemologist and designer, to launch a unique medallion series made with pure 24 karat gold from Ghana. The series, called Sankofa Medallions by Brenda Joyce,
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General Motors Announces 400 Percent Increase in Ad Spending with Black-Owned Media
General Motors, a longtime corporate partner of the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA), announced increasing advertising spending in Black-owned media by 400 percent. According to a news release, the company said it would grow spending from 2 percent to 8
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President Biden Nominates Three Black Women for Federal Court of Appeals
Remember these names: Ketanji Brown Jackson, Tiffany Cunningham, and Candace Jackson-Akiwumi. These are President Joseph Biden’s first three nominations for the federal Court of Appeals. In 2020, Biden pledged to name the first African American woman to the U.S. Supreme Court. A number of
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53 Years After MLK’s Assassination, Children of Civil Rights Icon Fight Voter Suppression
Fifty-three years after the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s death, the slain civil rights icon’s legacy is easily seen in how his daughter has continued to fight for many of the same causes. Bernice A. King joined the children
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With Eviction Cliff Extended, Here’s How Millions Can Keep Their Homes
There is a path to minimize evictions once moratoriums end — while still supporting landlords — in a post-pandemic country The path to forecasting evictions is rocky, and more than 3 million renters say they are at risk of eviction.
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COVID-19 Testing and Black America – Virus Is Still a Serious Danger to Public
The COVID-19 pandemic across America and throughout the world is still a serious danger to public health for all communities, but especially for African American and other people of color communities. African Americans are still disproportionately negatively impacted by this
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Marvin Scott: Seven Texas Police Officers Fired After Death of Black Man in Jail
Seven sheriff’s officers in Collin County, Texas, were fired on April 1. The firings appear to be in connection with the death of 26-year-old Marvin D. Scott III. An eighth officer related to the incident has resigned. Scott was arrested
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The Seven Last Words of George Floyd
The 9 minutes and 29 seconds that turned the collective stomach of the world have been seared into our shared consciousness and the legacy of this watershed moment is still playing out. In the same way that we cannot allow
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The American Rescue Plan — Changing the Course of the Pandemic for All Americans
It has been a little more than a year since COVID-19 was officially discovered within the boundaries of the United States. It has been devastating to communities of color. The statistics are sobering. Blacks represent only 13-percent of the U.S.
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One Million Commitment to Minority Equity Organizations to Focus on Diversity, Equity and Belonging
Horsham, PA – Bimbo Bakeries USA (BBU) has announced a new initiative to combat racial inequity and injustice and create lasting change. As part of that effort, BBU, a proud member of the Grupo Bimbo family of companies, has committed
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A CEO at Work and at Home, Shauntae Lewis Excels as Certified Grant Writer
Shauntae E. Lewis heard the naysayers – loud and clear. “I heard ‘you won’t amount to this’ and ‘you’re not good enough,’” Lewis, a certified grant writer who owns and operates Grant Life Consulting in Florida. “My inspiration came from a
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Fintech Startup Greenwood Raises $40 Million in Funding to Provide Black and Latino Banking Services
ATLANTA – Greenwood, the digital banking platform for Black and Latino individuals and business owners, today announced it has closed $40 million of Series A funding from six of the seven largest U.S. banks and the top two payment technology
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Children’s Defense Fund: State of America’s Children Reveals that 71 Percent of Children of Color Live in Poverty
The child population in America is the most diverse in history, but children remain the poorest age group in the country with youth of color suffering the highest poverty rates. “While we reported on the 73 million children in the
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Day 3 of Derek Chauvin trial: ‘I don’t respect what you did,’ says witness
If the trial of Derek Chauvin, charged with the murder of George Floyd, was a sporting contest with the score kept at the day’s end, the score would be witnesses and Black progressive humanity—one, Chauvin and the system of policing—zero.
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President Biden Calls GOP Voter Suppression Proposals ‘Sick’ in First Press Conference
Says He Will Do Everything in his Power to Stop Them In his first news conference since taking office in January, President Joe Biden declared that American voters elected him to fix the most pressing problems facing the country. “I
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The American Dream Belongs To Working Americans
I grew up in a world that held the promise of a bright future for those who were willing to work hard. An America that said you can do better than your parents. A promise that meant job security with
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“Quit Playin” – Tired of Black Folks Who Spew Disinformation and Ignorance
Now this one will probably get me into trouble, but it does not matter. There is undeniable evidence that my mama and God love me. That’s enough for me, and even if it were not, this has to be said.
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Beyoncé Dominates NAACP Image Awards; Eddie Murphy Inducted into Hall of Fame
Beyoncé took home four trophies, Eddie Murphy received the Hall of Fame award, and Viola Davis and the late Chadwick Boseman earned outstanding actress and actor in a motion picture during the primetime telecast of the 52nd NAACP Image Awards.
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The American Rescue Plan Provides Relief for Small Businesses
The American Rescue Plan will “devote $1 trillion toward building a bridge to economic recovery for working families, including those who work for small businesses; and provide critical support to communities that are struggling in the wake of the pandemic.”
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North Carolina NAACP Youth and College Advisor Endorses “A Call to Colors” New Black Student Movement Strategy
“The mission of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People is to ensure the political, educational, social and economic equality of rights of all persons and to eliminate racial hatred and discrimination.” And to this end, North Carolina
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For Black Cowboys – From Inner-City Philly to Small-Town Texas – Horses and Riding Are a Way of Life
Photographer Ron Tarver grew up in Fort Gibson, a small town in Oklahoma where horses, cattle and Wrangler jeans were embedded into the rhythms of everyday life. His grandfather was a cowboy admired for his roping abilities, and many of his family
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Biden Wants Corporations to Pay for His $2 Trillion Infrastructure Plans, Call for Companies to Chip in
President Joe Biden just proposed a roughly US$2 trillion infrastructure plan, which he ambitiously compared to the interstate highway system and the space race. He aims to pay for it solely by taxing companies more, including the first increase in the corporate tax rate
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The Storied History of the Black Press
Frederick Douglass, W.E.B. DuBois, Ida B. Wells Barnett, Langston Hughes, Romare Bearden, James Weldon Johnson, Mary McLeod Bethune, and Daisy Bates are all names that are notable in many ways. But, their contributions to the Black Press remain profound. It’s
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Centuries-Long Struggle Over the Meaning of Religious Liberty
Americans recently observed the first anniversary of the shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, in which 11 were killed and six wounded. A year earlier, white supremacist marchers in Charlottesville, Virginia, chanted the slogan, “Jews shall not
Read MoreCAB’s Student Activism Panel: ‘The mission of constant change’
Western Michigan University’s Campus Activity Board hosted a student activism panel over Zoom to discuss how students can engage in and promote causes they are passionate about on March 18. The five-person panel answered students’ questions and gave advice for
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The American Rescue Plan and Black Communities
The COVID-19 pandemic and the corresponding economic crisis are devastating Black communities. While Black Americans are 13 percent of the U.S. population, they represent nearly 24 percent of age-adjusted COVID-19 deaths. Black families also face higher than average unemployment rates
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150 Years After Ratification of the 15th Amendment, Black Votes Are Still Contested
The Black fight for the franchise As conservatives in some states continue to assault the fundamental right of citizens to vote by purging voter rolls, requiring certain ID’s and adding onerous burdens to dissuade folks from voting it’s important to
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