Press "Enter" to skip to content

Posts published in “Organizations”

Wells Fargo Invests $6.6 Million in Lending Capital and Grants for Black Businesses

By goodblacknews on January 8, 2018
Wells Fargo Investing $6.6 million to Help Black Businesses Thrive
(LaWayne Nockai, owner of Wayne’s Mobile Kitchen and Catering in Omaha, Nebraska, recently got a $65,000 loan from the Nebraska Enterprise Fund. He plans to open a restaurant by March. The Nebraska Enterprise Fund is a CDFI that has received funding from the Wells Fargo DDC program. Image: Wells Fargo) 
by Jeffrey McKinney via blackenterprise.com
Wells Fargo, the nation’s third-largest bank, is awarding $6.6 million in lending capital and grants to 12 Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) nationally that black-owned small businesses and others can use to flourish and create jobs.
The funding comes from the Wells Fargo Works for Small Business: Diverse Community Capital (DCC) program. The program includes targeting businesses owned by blacks, Asians, Hispanics, and Native Americans. Along with boosting lending to diverse small businesses, the CDD funds are used by CDIFs to support initiatives that increase access to capital and resources. That support can include providing technical assistance, marketing, and other help such as coaching and education that the businesses perhaps need to grow.
The CDFIs are private, nonprofit financial institutions focused on providing responsible and affordable lending to underserved populations and communities.
 “The combination of debt, grant, and social capital makes the DCC program unique,” Connie Smith, Wells Fargo’s Diverse Community Capital program manager, said in a statement. “The social capital component allows CDFIs to collaborate, innovate, and better serve diverse small businesses—and when our small businesses succeed, so do the communities they serve.”
Wells Fargo claims by financing community businesses—including small businesses, microenterprises, nonprofit organizations, commercial real estate and affordable housing—CDFIs spark job growth and retention in U.S. communities. Wells Fargo has committed $75 million to CDFIs since January 2016. Four rounds of awards have been done in 2016 and 2017, exceeding $55 million to date. 

The  Round Four DCC recipients include:

Funds from round four were distributed to many black-owned businesses. Round five just closed, but round six will open May 1, 2018. Grants typically range from $50,000 to $500,000, while loans are generally between $100,000 to several million, according to the bank.
For more details about the Wells Fargo Diverse Community Capital program, visit https://ofn.org/wells-fargo-dcc
Source: http://www.blackenterprise.com/wells-fargo-investing-6-6-million-to-help-black-businesses-thrive/

Black-Owned Company Acquires Essence From Time Inc.

By goodblacknews on January 3, 2018

– Deal reestablishes ESSENCE as a 100% Black-owned independent company –

– Black female-led ESSENCE executive team to have ownership stake in the brand –

via businesswire.com
NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Essence Ventures LLC, an independent African-American owned company focused on merging content, community and commerce, today announced its acquisition of multi-platform media company Essence Communications Inc. from Time Inc. ESSENCE President Michelle Ebanks will continue at the helm of the company and will also join its board of directors. In addition, the all Black female executive team of ESSENCE, including Ebanks, will have an equity stake in the business.
“This acquisition of ESSENCE represents the beginning of an exciting transformation of our iconic brand as it evolves to serve the needs and interests of multigenerational Black women around the world in an even more elevated and comprehensive way across print, digital, e-commerce and experiential platforms,” said Ebanks. “In addition, it represents a critical recognition, centering and elevation of the Black women running the business from solely a leadership position to a co-ownership position.”


Through the Essence Ventures’ investment and resulting incremental growth opportunities, ESSENCE will focus on expanding its digital businesses via distribution partnerships, compelling original content and targeted client-first strategies. In addition, the brand will expand its international growth by planting its rich content ecosystem, including the flagship magazine, digital properties and successful live event franchises, in more global markets with women who have shared interests and aspirations.

University of Georgia Defensive Back and Scholar Aaron Davis Named to 2017 SEC Football Community Service Team

By goodblacknews on January 2, 2018

Starting defensive back Aaron Davis has started 40 games at Georgia after coming to UGA as a walk-on.
(A.J. REYNOLDS/SPECIAL)

via sicemdawgs.com
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – University of Georgia graduate student and defensive back Aaron Davis has been named to the 2017 SEC Football Community Service Team.
Each year the Southeastern Conference highlights one player from each school in all 21-league sponsored sports who shows exemplary community service.
The Locust Grove, Ga. native has been recognized for his effort in the community already this year. Davis was among 11 FBS players named to the 2017 Allstate AFCA Good Works Team in September. The finance graduate was also on the preseason watch list for the Wuerffel Tropy, an award given a college football player, “who best combines exemplary community service with athletic and academic achievement.”
Davis has had his hand in numerous activities while in Athens. Specifically he has been involved in: UGA Athletic Association’s Leadership Academy (LEAD), Spokesperson for “No More,” which is a public service announcement against domestic violence and sexual assault… Visitation at Camp Sunshine, which is a camp that provides support programs for children with cancer and their families…Worked with individuals involved who are part of Extra Special People (ESP), which is an organization that assists with individuals with developmental disabilities … Speaker at the UGA Athletic Association’s “Learn, Play, Excel” program, which has UGA coaches and student-athletes visit and talk with elementary and middle school students on topics such as education, leadership, anti-bullying, respect for authority and the value of participation in athletics.
In the classroom, Davis picked up his second CoSIDA Academic All-District award in November. He has been named to the Fall SEC Academic Honor Roll each of the last three years.
The six-foot-one defensive back has started every game this season to bring his total to 42 starts in 50 games played at Georgia. The former walk-on has 40 total tackles, 2.5 for a loss, one sack, and two quarterback pressures this season. In coverage, he has four pass break ups and one interception.
To read more, go to: https://www.sicemdawgs.com/2017/11/aaron-davis-2017-sec-football-community-service-team/

Last of Philadelphia's Black-Owned Bookstores Work to Make a Comeback

By goodblacknews on December 31, 2017

BOOKS19-K
Yvonne Blake took over Hakim’s Bookstore from her father Dawud Hakim after he passed away. It is thought to be the oldest surviving black-owned bookstore in the country. (Photo credit: GENEVA HEFFERNAN via philly.com)

by Valerie Russ @ValerieRussDN via philly.com
At Hakim’s Bookstore in West Philadelphia, there are signs of life for what is believed to be the oldest black-owned bookstore in the country. Only a couple of years ago, the store was near death’s door. There is fresh, yellow paint on the walls, brand-new bookshelves, and a newly renovated office space at the back of the store. “I finally got a website about three months ago,” said Yvonne Blake, daughter of Dawud Hakim, who founded the store in 1959.
Two years ago, the landmark at 210 S. 52nd St. was in danger of closing: Competition from internet booksellers and its limited hours — a family member was ill — led many people to falsely believe that Hakim’s was no longer in business, Blake, 66, said. But after attention from a column by Inquirer and Daily News writer Helen Ubiñas, Blake said, “I had a lot of people offer to help.”
She had already launched a GoFundMe campaign (more than $1,140 has been raised), but hearing from people all over the country gave her even more hope — and help. Joel Wilson, the owner of a computer-consulting firm who went to elementary school with her daughter, created the new website and offered a reorganization plan. And Ron Green, founder of a clothing company featuring T-shirts and other apparel aimed at young black activists, paid her a visit.
“I had never heard of Hakim’s,” said Green, CEO of What’s Up African? “I told her, you don’t have social media. You’re not online. You have to go to festivals and events. You have to be visible.” And he advised her: “How can we expect the next generation of readers and leaders to access this store if they don’t know you exist?’
Now, some of Green’s T-shirts, items that appeal to a younger generation, are available at the bookstore.

Yvonne Blake holds a photo of her father, Dawud Hakim, in front of the store in the 1970s. (Photo credit:  GENEVA HEFFERNAN via philly.com)

Troy D. Johnson, president and founder of African American Literature Book Club, said only Marcus Books in Oakland, Calif., founded in 1960, has been around as long as Hakim’s.
Johnson also said he was pleased to learn that Temple University professor Marc Lamont Hill just opened Uncle Bobbie’s Coffee & Books at 5445 Germantown Ave in Philadelphia.
Hill’s store, “along with the opening of at least seven new black-owned independents this year, is a very positive sign,” Johnson wrote in an email. This is the first year his website added more bookstores than it flagged as having closed. “As Amazon becomes a near-monopoly for online book sales and eBooks, they are certainly having an adverse impact on not just black independents, but all booksellers online and brick-and-mortar,” Johnson wrote.
Joshua Clark Davis, a professor of history at the University of Baltimore who has studied black-owned bookstores in the country, said that the “rise and fall of black radical politics has always had an impact on the popularity of black bookstores.”
The first big boom was during the height of the Black Power movement, from the late 1960s until the mid-’70s.  “Then came a big decline, but another upswing in black bookstores was when Afrocentrism and Malcolm X and black nationalism boom again in the late 1980s and early ’90s,” Davis wrote in an email.

Memphis Removes Two Confederate Statues Ahead of 50th Anniversary of MLK Assassination

By goodblacknews on December 21, 2017

(photo: WREG.com)

via thegrio.com
On Wednesday night, the city of Memphis got rid of two Confederate statues, including a statue of Confederate President Jefferson Davis. The first of the statues to be removed was of Confederate Lt. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest, a slave trader and a founder and “Grand Wizard” of the Ku Klux Klan, followed by the statue of Davis.
As police surrounded the scene with lights flashing, a jubilant crowd sang farewell to the statues: “Na na na na, na na na na, hey, hey, goodbye.”
Memphis is fast approaching the 50th anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. With that somber anniversary hanging over their heads, Memphis politicians suddenly lit a fire under their desire to get rid of the reminders of the Confederacy.
But the problem was the Tennessee Heritage Protection Act of 2016. That act prevented the removal of statues on public property without two-thirds of the board of the commission expressing their approval.
But facing the prospect of thousands of people coming to the city to celebrate MLK and finding Confederate statues there, the city worked around that law.
The kicker was the fact that statues “on public property” were affected by the law. On Wednesday, then, the city council let the mayor sell the parks to Memphis Greenspace Inc., a private nonprofit set up by Shelby County Commissioner Van Turner and others. Hours later, the statues, now on private property, were removed.

To read more, go to: https://thegrio.com/2017/12/21/memphis-removes-confederate-statues/

"Insecure" Actor Jay Ellis to Serve as 2018 American Black Film Festival Celebrity Ambassador; Submissions Open Until February

By goodblacknews on December 13, 2017

by Lori Lakin Hutcherson (@lakinhutcherson)
The 22nd American Black Film Festival (ABFF) will include an exciting lineup of film screenings, events and innovative programming, and will return to Miami from June 13-17, 2018.  The week will include several new experiences, including Smartphone movie screenings, a master class on film financing, music-focused sessions and new networking opportunities for festival attendees.  ABFF continues to be dedicated to introducing emerging content creators of African descent to the industry at large and is recognized as one of the leading film festivals in the world.
Actor Jay Ellis will serve as the 2018 ABFF Celebrity Ambassador. Annually, the festival showcases dynamic content by and about people of African descent from around the world and consists of five competitive categories: Narrative Features, Documentaries, Short Films, Web Series and Smartphone Originals. Submissions are now open and below is a list of film submission deadlines, Awards and direct submission links:
*Narrative Features:
Regular Submissions Deadline: February 15, 2018
Early Submissions Deadline: December 31, 2017

Audience Award–Best Narrative Feature (Prize TBD)
http://www.abff.com/submissions/narrative-features/

*Documentaries:
Early Submissions Deadline: December 31, 2017
Regular Submissions Deadline: February 15, 2018
Grand Jury Award for Best Documentary (Prize TBD)
http://www.abff.com/submissions/documentaries/

American Airlines Employees Must Take Anti-Racism Training Since NAACP Issued Travel Advisory

By goodblacknews on December 3, 2017

(photo via newsone.com)

via ktla.com
American Airlines is making employees undergo anti-racism training after the NAACP issued a “travel advisory” for the carrier in October. Starting in 2018, everyone at the company will need to complete annual implicit bias training, the company announced Thursday.
“We are proud of the diversity and inclusion initiatives already in place at American, but we know we can do even better. So we viewed the feedback as an opportunity,” CEO Doug Parker said in a letter to staff.
The training program’s curriculum is still being developed, and will be conducted both in-person and through an online module, according to a company spokeswoman. Parker said that airline executives met with NAACP leaders earlier Thursday.


In October, the NAACP issued a warning to black fliers, urging them to be careful when flying American Airlines. The organization said it had noticed “a pattern of disturbing incidents reported by African-American passengers, specific to American Airlines,” citing four examples of black fliers who were forced to give up their seats or were removed from flights.
The NAACP, in a statement released Friday, said the organization supports American’s plan, but will keep its travel advisory in place for now. “We think we’re on the right road, but the NAACP will continue to meet with Doug Parker and other senior‎ American Airline[s] employees to ensure that the company walks the walk as well as it talks the talk,” NAACP President Derrick Johnson said.
In addition to the implicit bias training, American is bringing in an independent firm to review its hiring practices, and has pledged to overhaul its system for managing discrimination complaints. “American Airlines can set a new standard in corporate diversity and inclusion, and we are humbled by the opportunity before us to do so,” Parker said.
Source: http://ktla.com/2017/12/01/american-airlines-employees-will-now-have-to-undergo-anti-racism-training/

UNCF Report Shows HBCUs Positive, Multi-Billion Dollar Impact on U.S. Economy

By goodblacknews on November 26, 2017

(via images.uncf.org)

via jbhe.com
The United Negro College Fund (UNCF) released a new report on the economic impact historically Black colleges and universities have on the nation’s economy. The study prepared by the University of Georgia’s Selig Center for Economic Growth, found that the nation’s HBCUs contribute nearly $15 billion to the nation’s economy.
Among the other findings in the report are:

  • Every dollar spent by a HBCU and its students generates $1.44 in initial and subsequent spending for the institution’s local and regional economies.
  • HBCUs generate roughly 134,000 jobs for their local and regional economies.
  • HBCU graduates, over 50,000 in 2014, can expect work-life earnings of $130 billion — an additional $927,000 per graduate — 56 percent more than they could expect to earn without their HBCU degrees or certificates.

Michael L. Lomax, president and CEO of the UNCF, stated that “HBCUs not only provide a college education for 300,000 students every year, but they are a powerful economic engine: locally, through the jobs they create and the expenditures they make in the cities where they are located, and nationally, through the students they educate and prepare for an information-age workforce. The study demonstrates conclusively that HBCUs are not only relevant to the country’s economic health and vigor, they are necessary.”
The full report, HBCUs Make America Strong: The Positive Economic Impact of Historically Black Colleges and Universities, may be downloaded here.
Source: https://www.jbhe.com/2017/11/united-negro-college-fund-analysis-show-the-economic-impact-of-the-nations-hbcus/

THIS WAY FORWARD: Community-Based Solutions for the African-American Childbirth Crisis

THIS WAY FORWARD: Community-Based Solutions for the African-American Childbirth Crisis

By goodblacknews on November 22, 2017
(Photo via thechildbirthprofession.com)

by Dena Crowder

Kyira “Kira” Dixon Johnson and her husband Charles seemed to have it all: a healthy baby boy, flourishing entrepreneurial careers, and vibrant health. Which is why no one could have predicted that 24 hours after welcoming their second son into the world, Kyira would be dead.
The Johnsons represent an alarming reality that’s only recently gained attention in the national media: African-American women are dying in childbirth at 3-4 times the rate of their white counterparts. When I first read the statistics, I was stunned. “This isn’t the 19th century!” Yet facts prove otherwise.
For a recent Essence article, Meaghan Winter wrote:
“In some rural counties and dense cities alike, the racial disparity in maternal deaths is jaw-dropping: Chickasaw County, Mississippi, for instance, has a maternal death rate for women of color that’s higher than Rwanda’s. In New York City, Black women are 12 times more likely than White women to die of pregnancy-related causes—and the disparity has more than doubled in recent years.”
While experts agree that the causes are multi-faceted, and include factors such as diet, poor pre- and post-natal care, existing high-risk conditions (like hypertension and diabetes) and lack of access to properly trained medical staff, by far the most troubling thing I heard was this comment from Darline Turner, an Austin-based physician’s assistant and certified doula:
“This goes across socio-economic status. Even a high achieving Ph.D. – who is a six to seven figure earner – still has worse birth outcomes than a white woman without a high school education who is smoking,” she said during a phone interview.
“How is this possible?” I wondered.
Darline explained that the “issue no one wants to talk about” is the experience of chronic mental, physical and emotional stress experienced by black women living in modern America, and its negative impact on birth outcomes. (For more thoughts on this topic from Darline Turner, click here.)
Disturbed by the seeming nonchalance at what should be declared a national health emergency, she began the Healing Hands Doula project, a grassroots effort aimed at supporting healthy pregnancies and births for women of color in Texas.
Her belief that “we’ve got to return to community” is borne out by scientific studies from a variety of fields. “We know that loneliness is a major factor in disease.” According to her, a mom who isn’t connected to a strong and vital community offering robust emotional and medical support is more susceptible to complications.
The good news is, with proper care, the statistics can be reversed. This fact is demonstrated by Jennie Joseph of Common Sense Childbirth, a prenatal clinic, birthing center, and school of midwifery in Florida where she applies her holistic maternity care model. The results are astoundingly positive and are changing the status quo. By making a difference, Joseph is not only increasing the well being of the families she serves, but also her own. To learn more about her and her mission, visit her website here: http://www.commonsensechildbirth.org. (Additional resources can be found via Sister Song, Center for Reproductive Rights, BlackMamasMatter and The Afiya Center.)
The kind of purpose-driven work that birth professionals like Turner and Joseph are doing on behalf of women of color falls into the category of purposeful contribution. Over the past few years, research has shown that when you answer the “call” to do good for others, you actually strengthen your immune system.
What about those who lack a sense of purpose? They develop genetic patterns equivalent to people under constant stress. (This correlation between chronic stress and purpose is based on studies done at UCLA, The University of North Carolina and in the work of Dr. Mario Martinez.) The only cure for what ails the purposeless is to give meaningfully.

African-American Cultural Heritage Action Fund Launched to Increase Diversity in Historic Preservation

By goodblacknews on November 15, 2017
Madam C.J. Walker’s “Villa Lewaro,” the home of the country’s first female African-American millionaire. (Courtesy National Trust for Historic Preservation/Madam Walker Family Archive)

by Patrick Sisson via curbed.com

A new multi-year initiative to help preserve more African-American historical sites, and address funding gaps in the preservation of current sites, was announced today.

The African-American Cultural Heritage Action Fund, a partnership between the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the Ford Foundation, The JPB Foundation, and the Open Society Foundations, will establish a grant fund for protection and restoration. Actress and activist Phylicia Rashad, who previously campaigned to protect the Brainerd Institute in South Carolina, a school established in 1866 for freed slaves, will serve as an advisor and ambassador.

“There is an opportunity and an obligation for us to step forward boldly and ensure the preservation of places which tell the often-overlooked stories of African-Americans and their many contributions to our nation,” said Stephanie Meeks, President and CEO of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, in a statement. “We believe that this fund will be transformative for our country, and we are committed to crafting a narrative that expands our view of history and, ultimately, begins to reconstruct our national identity, while inspiring a new generation of activists to advocate for our diverse historic places.”

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=su9I9Ry2ZxQ?rel=0&]

The nascent initiative will seek $25 million in initial funding, and focus on historical sites and buildings that help tell often-overlooked aspects of the country’s history, as well as stories of overcoming intolerance, injustice, and inequality.

“As the scholar Carl Becker once wrote, history is what the present chooses to remember about the past,” said Patrick Gaspard, vice president of the Open Society Foundations. “The events in Charlottesville this past summer are a stark reminder of how one segment of American society chooses to celebrate a brutal past. We have an opportunity, through this tremendous project, to preserve, protect and cherish another history too often neglected—the vital story of African-Americans and their enormous contributions to the idea of America.”

Source: https://www.curbed.com/2017/11/15/16656528/historic-preservation-african-american-cultural-heritage-fund