WASHINGTON, DC – JULY 17: (LR) Brock Char Edwards Black Co-Founder, Brock Black Co-Founder Lanny Edwards, Stefon Diggs, Rashard Lambert on stage with Stefon Diggs Franklin · Presenting Black to Brock DC at the Park on July 17, 2022 in Washington, DC. (Photo credit: Brian Stukes/Getty Images)
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“I’m back on the block with it/Wait to put it away/I’m back on the block you get when your block gets it” – Beanie Siegel
What happened yo!
It’s hot outside. Prices are rising. Beyoncé has a new album and summer hits.
Welcome to August 2022. It’s the last month of summer, when the winds of change swirl violently, but much remains the same.
For many Black Americans, change has not arrived quickly enough in areas of need. Airbnb this week had to apologize to hosts who advertised their properties as former slave quarters. Or take a look at Sesame Place, where a costumed actor had to make two statements last month after disrespecting a young black girl. It continues to disproportionately affect brown people, new research from the CVS Health-Harris Poll reveals.
Yet we move forward, celebrating and enhancing our culture as the world grapples with change.
One example is the Black on the Block event, a pop-up marketplace and festival focused on black business. Co-founders and sisters Char and Lanie Edwards launched in Los Angeles in 2021 after working as the only black vendor in most markets. This year, they partnered with National Football League wide receiver Stephon Diggs to host an event in Washington, DC (see our interview with The Culture founder Rashaad Lambert here).
And as you can see below, black entrepreneurs continue to make headlines for raising capital and net worth.
It’s only natural to pay tribute to the two black pioneers who passed away last week. Hall of Fame basketball player and coach Bill Russell and actress Nichelle Nichols, who played Lieutenant Uhura on “Star Trek.” (Martin Luther King Jr. was a fan of Nichols). Each was a changemaker that not only moved culture forward, but society as well.
PS I’m in Las Vegas this week for the National Association of Black Journalists conference. Catch it quickly!
WASHINGTON DC – JULY 17: (LR) Brock Char Edwards, Stefon Diggs, Black co with Stefon Diggs on stage during Stefon Diggs presents Black on the Block DC at Brock DC on July 17 at Franklin Park Founder and Co-Founder Lanny Edwards will take place in Washington DC in 2022. (Photo credit: Brian Stukes/Getty Images)
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Black On The Block and Stefon Diggs have partnered to create a unique marketplace for Black-Owned Business. On July 17, Washington, DC’s newly renovated Franklin Park between Kentucky Avenue and 14th Street will transform into an immersive marketplace full of black-owned vendors for the city’s first “Black on the Block” event. I was.
Paragon co-founders Ishmael Samuel (CTO, left) and Brandon Foo (CEO, right).
Paragon
Embedded integration platform Paragon raises $13 million to build bridges between software applications. Los Angeles-based startup Paragon recently raised $13 million in Series A funding led by Inspired Capital, with participation from other investors. The company was launched in August 2019 by his CEO Brandon Foo (right) and his chief technology officer Ishmael Samuel (left) to make it easier for software companies to integrate their products with other software. was co-founded by Foo and Samuel are 2021 Forbes 30 Under 30 winners.
Lorenzo Ruiz founded The Confess Project to spark conversations about mental health.A recent survey found that 29% of blacks and 40% of Hispanic Americans rate their mental health as poor. did.
Courtesy Confession Project
Blacks and Hispanic Americans are more likely to struggle with mental health. A July CVS Health-Harris Poll found that 40% of Hispanic Americans and 29% of Black Americans rated their mental health as poor, compared to respondents who identified as white. was 22%. The data shows that Blacks and Hispanic Americans bore the brunt of the mental health crisis that resulted from the Covid-19 pandemic.
Emma Grade
allie green
Watch | Meet the women who helped build Kardashian’s billion dollar business empire. Emma Grede is CEO of Good American, a size-inclusive fashion brand she launched with Khloe Kardashian in 2016. She is the only black person to debut on Forbes’ 2022 list of America’s richest self-made women, with her net worth of $360 million. Greedo, who was raised in East London by a single mother, began her paper route at age 12, saving up spare change to buy fashion magazines. She founded her marketing agency ITB Worldwide in 2008 and is the first black woman to join her popular ABC series Shark Tank as an investor.
“We know that if you break your arm, the response is to go to the hospital, go to the doctor, get emergency care. Take care.”
— Tracy J. Edmonds Former Chief Diversity Officer at Anthem Inc., a diversity and inclusion consultant.
from contributors
Repeated harassment of black children at amusement parks points to need for more complex bias training
Actor LaRoyce Hawkins discusses what it means to him to be ‘powerful’ and how he’s using the platform to give back to Chicago
Team Rock Holds First Social Justice Summit to Fight Injustice
Sandra L. Richards, Head of Global Sports and Entertainment, Morgan Stanley, on the Business of Sports
AT&T Dream in Black Celebrates Black Excellence at Essence Festival of Culture 2022
This Sports Agent Is Setting New Standards At His Agency Disruptive Sports
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