Black Ambition is a non-profit initiative founded by Pharrell Williams that aims to close the opportunity and wealth gap by empowering Black & Hispanic entrepreneurs. In 2022, adverse market conditions led to a 45% decrease in financing for Black Entrepreneurs. Black Ambition is leveling the playing field by creating the relationships and conditions for Black and Hispanic founders to excel, uninterrupted. Its annual Black Ambition Prize Competition provides mentorship, resources, connections, and up to $3 million dollars in Prize awards to founders innovating in consumer products and services, media and entertainment, healthcare, technology, and Web 3.0 industries. Applications for the third annual Black Ambition Prize competition will close on May 8
The ongoing fallout from last month’s derailment of a Norfolk Southern train carrying toxic chemicals in East Palestine, Ohio illustrates in no uncertain terms just how crucial the question of environmental justice is to the future of rail safety in America.
Vice President Kamala Harris is sure to be remembered every March in Women’s History Month as the first woman and the first person of color to serve our nation in that position. As notable as those two facts are, she may grow to be known just as much for a single vote in the Senate that helped save the planet.
A major acquisition that civil rights leaders and advocates for Black-owned media had hoped would increase media ownership, opportunity, and participation by African-Americans and other minorities has apparently “hit a brick wall.”
Career Educator Nina Graham, Healthcare Advocate Dr. Kara Ellen Davis MD, and Community leader Stafford Owens have coalesced their talents, resources, and successful experiences in their collective run for re-election and election respectively in the April 4th, Thornton Township High School District 205 Board of Trustees race.
Sterling Bay, a Chicago-based real estate development firm, has promoted Keiana Barrett to serve as the company’s Chief Diversity & Engagement Officer, effective January 7. Barrett oversees the development and execution of Sterling Bay’s community integration and diversity inclusion strategies. She has more than 20 years of experience in government affairs, strategic communications and community engagement.
Pope Francis echoed the late great Pan-Africanist, Kwame Nkrumah, during his recent African visit. But will the foreign powers heed his call to stop plundering Africa?
Washington, D.C.- March 8, 2023, Representative Danny K. Davis (D-IL) issued the following statement on the public release of the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) report Child Welfare: HHS Is Taking Steps to Help States Support Relative Caregivers with Evidence-Based Programs (GAO-23-105624).
On Wednesday, February 22, 2023, the U.S. Department of Commerce Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA), and the National Alliance for Black Business (NABB) signed a historic MOU during the NABB's first annual National Black Business Policy Conference in Washington, D.C. The NABB was co-founded by the National Business League (NBL) and the National Black Chamber of Commerce (NBCC), which represent a combined 153 years of service to Black businesses and are now collectively working to organize a unified national black economic agenda.
More low-to-moderate income homebuyers in Chicago will now be able to realize their dreams of homeownership. Thanks to an innovative public and private partnership between the Chicago City
Treasuer’s Office and R. Seelaus & Co., Inc., a certified women-owned, full-service investment and asset management firm, new capital has been invested in Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae that will make mortgages
for single-family homes more accessible on the city’s south and west side neighborhoods.
More than 400 students from districts across the south suburbs came together at Governor’s State University on Monday, February 27, for a Black History Performing Arts Showcase. The theme of the showcase was “As One” and was a collaborative effort between Rich Township High School District 227, Southland College Prep High School, Elementary School District 159, Matteson School District 162, and Park Forest-Chicago Heights School District 163.
To support the call for a gender-equal media and entertainment industry, the Permanent Mission of Italy to the UN and UN Women, together with a cross-regional group of Member States and the non-profit organization "We Do It Together" (WDIT), which is focused on women's empowerment, will hold a special screening of "Tell it Like a Woman" at the United Nations Headquarters in the U.N. General Assembly Hall.
Chicago, Ill. – Broadway In Chicago announced that HAMILTON will return to Chicago for the first time following
a record-breaking 3+ year run. This multi-week engagement begins September 13, at the James M. Nederlander
Theatre. Groups are now available for 10+ by calling 312-977-1710. Casting, performance schedule, and individual
ticket sales for HAMILTON will be announced later this year. For more details, visit BroadwayInChicago.com.
Among the significant strides our country has made to create a more equitable society, air travel does not always come to mind. However, it was not long ago that air travel was only for the elite. Airfares were prohibitively expensive, and flying on commercial airlines was a privilege that almost exclusively upper-class, white Americans could enjoy.
Felicia Davis Blakley has spent the bulk of her career in the public sector, helping people. Her
mother raised her with a very strong sense of community and responsibility and giving back.
James Diggs has been the owner and operator of Tidy Up Experts for seven years. The commercial cleaning business, which is located on the city’s West side, currently has three contracts in Garfield Park and two in North Lawndale. Tidy Up Experts also employs youth and trains them on janitorial and cleaning work.
An inspiring group of noteworthy local grassroots organizations from across the U.S. have been named recipients of $10,000 grants, in the first-ever Toyota “Need a Nudge” contest. The national initiative, launched in the fall of 2022, was conceived to help support and uplift non-profit organizations and leaders across the country, whose often unsung work is effecting positive change in the communities Toyota serves.
The DuSable Black History Museum and Education Center is pleased to announce a new exhibition featuring paintings from the Collection of Emmy® award-nominated actress CCH Pounder. The exhibition “Diaspora
Stories: Selections from the CCH Pounder Collection” will open on March 18, 2023, and continue through July 16, 2023.
Dr. Jessica Esquivel became interested in Science Technology Engineering Arts and Mathematics (STEAM) from watching science fiction movies growing up. When she saw “Contact,” with Jodie Foster playing an astrophysicist, she was hooked and enthralled by the story of a woman scientist who was leading a group.