The second annual “Daddy Daughter Dance” was held in Chicago over the weekend, and the event sponsored by the Chicago Police Department proved to be a success.
The event, which was held at the South Shore Cultural Center, matched up Chicago police officers with girls who don’t have fathers in their lives. Also in attendance were officers and their own daughters.
“After last year’s event, we had several officers and the young ladies that they escorted, they kept up with one another and it really bridged a gap,” said Sgt. Kimberly Woods. “It let the girls know that officers are just people too and we dance, and we dance funny like your dads do.”
The Chicago Police Department and the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives planned the dance to encourage healthy relationships between daughters and their fathers.
Elaine Welteroth poses for a photo during Spring 2016 New York Fashion Week, Sept. 14, 2015, in New York City. (ROBIN MARCHANT/GETTY IMAGES) article by Angela Bronner Helm via theroot.com Elaine Welteroth, who made headlines when she became Teen Vogue’s first African American beauty director, has been made the title’s new editor-in-chief.
She will be the youngest editor in the company’s 107-year history. She is also the second black woman named to head a Conde Nast book; Keija Minor has been at the helm of Brides magazine since 2012. According to her Linkedin profile, Welteroth, 29, has held editorial positions at Glamour and Ebony magazines, and has been at Teen Vogue for more than three and a half years. She received her degree in Mass Communications/Media Studies with a minor in journalism from Cal State Sacramento.
The current EIC of Teen Vogue, Amy Astley, will be moving to the head position at Architectural Digest. To read more, go to: African-American Woman Named as Head of Teen Vogue
article via eurweb.com
Back in 2007, a Nigerian businessman Taofick Okoya struck gold you could say when he founded the “Queens of Africa” doll line with the motto: “Empowering the African girl child.”
The “Queens of Africa” range of dolls highlight various African ethnicities, as well as a variety of African hairstyles (customers may opt for dolls rocking an afro, or alternatively one with braids or braid extensions), reports Forbes.
Okoya’s mission is to spread a message which enforces young black girls their self-esteem, allowing them from an early age to have role models they can relate to. This summer, Okoya and his posse of dolls will travel across several cities in the United States, to meet and greet American clients, while further expanding the Queens of Africa footprint.
‘I got into the doll business by chance. At that time my daughter was young, and I realized she was going through an identity crisis,’ Taofick tells me when I reach out to the Lagos-based founder over the phone. He further adds, ‘She wished she was white, and I was trying to figure out where that came from. I used to always buy her white dolls, and it never got to me that is was relevant which color her dolls were. On top of that, we have DSTV in Nigeria where children watch the Disney programs, and all her favorite characters were white. I started to understand why she’d feel the way she did, ‘cause it was all that she’d been exposed to,’ the Queens of Africa dolls creator explains.
The report goes on to say that even though the dolls’ body parts are manufactured in China, they are assembled in Nigeria. And here’s the good part. Taofick also empowers local communities of stay-at-home mothers, who make money off of braiding the dolls’ hair and creating outfits.
“It takes about three hours braiding the hair. One of these women has made 60,000 Naira (roughly $300) doing this.”
This summer Taofick will tour across New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Washington D.C. and Houston, throughout the months of June and July. In April he already made a first stop in Atlanta, to meet with wholesale buyers and customers, as part of the Coming to America tour. At present the dolls are already available for order to the American audience via Amazon, in addition to the Queens of Africa online store. On top of that, the dolls are sold by a Senegal-based retailer, as well as e-tailers based in France and Australia. Ghana, South Africa and Brazil, are next on his list.
‘We’re planning on taking part in American toy fairs where we can meet with retailers. Our ultimate goal is to be sold by the major stores in the US. I personally believe it will be less difficult to sell the dolls in America, compared to Nigeria. In Nigeria the doll culture is still being developed, so it’s easier to sell within a market that is already there, as opposed to having to create that market.’
You can get the FULL story at Forbes.
Buy/See the dolls at Amazon.
article by Carolyn M. Brown via blackenterprise.com
New resources and funding is underway to help minority-owned firms create jobs, compete in the global economy, and grow their businesses. This comes from the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Minority Business Development Agency, awarding $31.5 million in federal funding to 21 grant recipients as part of its MBDA Business Center Program.
“For more than 40 years, MBDA has led efforts to support minority firms and provide them with the tools and technical expertise they need to excel. This is the very foundation on which this agency was founded back in 1969. It’s the core of who we are and what we represent,” said MBDA National Director Alejandra Y. Castillo. “This funding goes far beyond just the monetary aspect. This is a long-term investment in our community and in our nation.”
According to data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2012 Survey of Business Owners, minority-owned firms in the U.S. increased from 5.8 million in 2007 to 8 million in 2012, and employed 7.2 million people in 2012.
The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA), is the only federal agency dedicated to the growth and global competitiveness of U.S. minority-owned businesses. Since 2009, MBDA Business Centers have assisted minority firms with gaining access to more than $31 billion in capital and contracts, while creating and retaining nearly 142,000 jobs.
The grant recipients will join an established network of MBDA Business Centers across the United States and Puerto Rico. The recipients will receive the federal funds during a five-year period. They include:
Georgia Tech Research Corporation ($298,255) to operate the MBDA Business Center in Atlanta.
Chicago Minority Supplier Development Council, Inc. ($312,750) to operate the MBDA Business Center in Chicago.
Dallas Fort Worth Minority Supplier Development Council ($301,675) to operate the MBDA Business Center in Dallas.
Michigan Minority Purchasing Council ($310,225) to operate the MBDA Business Center in Detroit.
Mid-South Minority Council TADP, Inc. ($285,400) to operate the MBDA Business Center in Memphis, Tenn.
Southern Florida Minority Supplier Development Council ($301,975) to operate the MBDA Business Center in Miami.
South Bronx Overall Economic Development Association ($321, 800) to operate the MBDA Business Center in New York or northern New Jersey.
The Enterprise Center ($304,475) to operate the MBDA Business Center in Philadelphia.
North Carolina Institute of Minority Economic Development ($294,100) to operate the MBDA Business Center in Raleigh, Charlotte, or Durham, N.C.
Capital Region Minority Supplier Development Council, Inc. ($310,550) to operate the MBDA Business Center in Washington, D.C., or Northern Virginia.
MBDA is expected to make additional announcements regarding grant winners and future grant opportunities.
Janelle Monae (i)Taraji P. Henson (m)and Octavia Spencer (r) and star in “Hidden Figures,” a largely untold story of African-American mathematicians in the space program. (photo via nytimes.com)
ATLANTA — Taraji P. Henson hates math, and Octavia Spencer has a paralyzing fear of calculus, but that didn’t stop either actress from playing two of the most important mathematicians the world hasn’t ever known.
Both women are starring in “Hidden Figures,” a forthcoming film that tells the astonishing true story of female African-American mathematicians who were invaluable to NASA’s space program in the Jim Crow South in the early 1960s.
Ms. Henson plays Katherine Johnson, a math savant who calculated rocket trajectories for, among other spaceflights, the Apollo trips to the moon. Ms. Spencer plays her supervisor, Dorothy Vaughan, and the R&B star Janelle Monáe plays Mary Jackson, a trailblazing engineer who worked at the agency, too.
Slated for wide release in January, the film is based on the book of the same title, to be published this fall, by Margot Lee Shetterly. The author grew up knowing Ms. Johnson in Hampton, Va., but only recently learned about her outsize impact on America’s space race.
Janelle Monae (i)Taraji P. Henson (m)and Octavia Spencer (r) and star in “Hidden Figures,” a largely untold story of African-American mathematicians in the space program. (photo via nytimes.com)
ATLANTA — Taraji P. Henson hates math, and Octavia Spencer has a paralyzing fear of calculus, but that didn’t stop either actress from playing two of the most important mathematicians the world hasn’t ever known.
Both women are starring in “Hidden Figures,” a forthcoming film that tells the astonishing true story of female African-American mathematicians who were invaluable to NASA’s space program in the Jim Crow South in the early 1960s.
Ms. Henson plays Katherine Johnson, a math savant who calculated rocket trajectories for, among other spaceflights, the Apollo trips to the moon. Ms. Spencer plays her supervisor, Dorothy Vaughan, and the R&B star Janelle Monáe plays Mary Jackson, a trailblazing engineer who worked at the agency, too.
Slated for wide release in January, the film is based on the book of the same title, to be published this fall, by Margot Lee Shetterly. The author grew up knowing Ms. Johnson in Hampton, Va., but only recently learned about her outsize impact on America’s space race.
Three of WEF’s top five African women innovators (photo via VenturesAfrica.com) article by Fumnanya Agbugah via VenturesAfrica.com
On Friday, the World Economic Forum on Africa presented the five winners of the conference’s challenge to find Africa’s top women innovators. The winners, whose innovations were from the areas including mobile health insurance, solar powered vending carts, bio medical materials and IT training as well as food processing, hail from Kenya, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania and Uganda.
Currently, Africa has the youngest population in the world and this is expected to double by 2045. In view of this, several global leaders have attested to the fact that Africa’s future lies in the hands of its youthful population. The region’s start-up businesses are gaining confidence and scale with a growing number of innovations achieving recognition beyond the region’s borders. However, a lot still has to be done in order to create an enabling environment that will allow women to flourish. Due to this set back, the World Economic Forum decided to run this competition to find Africa’s top female innovators especially as the potential of women entrepreneurs is far from optimum.
“I strongly believe that the 21st century will be Africa’s century, that its young population has the potential to build a world where they are not only materially better off, but also where things are fairer, more sustainable and more tolerant than at any other time in history. But this will not be achieved unless women are able to make a full contribution. This is why we are showcasing Africa’s best female entrepreneurs in Kigali this week,” said Elsie Kanza, Head of Africa at the World Economic Forum.
Here are Africa’s top female innovators, selected based on the criteria for the WEF Africa challenge. This required entrant companies to be less than three years old, be earning revenue for at least a year and have proven innovation and positive social impact.
Natalie Bitature – Musana Carts, Kampala, Uganda
Musana Carts has used frugal innovation to develop environmentally friendly, solar-powered vending carts. With a price point of $400, each Musana Cart saves 3,000 tons of carbon emissions and improves the health of cities by eliminating pollution from charcoal and kerosene stoves.
Audrey Cheng – Moringa School, Nairobi, Kenya
Audrey Cheng established Moringa School to enable an entire generation gain the skills they need to compete in the digital economy. Two years on, graduates work in the top tech companies in the region, earning, on average, 350 percent more than before they completed the course.
Three of WEF’s top five African women innovators (photo via VenturesAfrica.com) article by Fumnanya Agbugah via VenturesAfrica.com
On Friday, the World Economic Forum on Africa presented the five winners of the conference’s challenge to find Africa’s top women innovators. The winners, whose innovations were from the areas including mobile health insurance, solar powered vending carts, bio medical materials and IT training as well as food processing, hail from Kenya, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania and Uganda.
Currently, Africa has the youngest population in the world and this is expected to double by 2045. In view of this, several global leaders have attested to the fact that Africa’s future lies in the hands of its youthful population. The region’s start-up businesses are gaining confidence and scale with a growing number of innovations achieving recognition beyond the region’s borders. However, a lot still has to be done in order to create an enabling environment that will allow women to flourish. Due to this set back, the World Economic Forum decided to run this competition to find Africa’s top female innovators especially as the potential of women entrepreneurs is far from optimum.
“I strongly believe that the 21st century will be Africa’s century, that its young population has the potential to build a world where they are not only materially better off, but also where things are fairer, more sustainable and more tolerant than at any other time in history. But this will not be achieved unless women are able to make a full contribution. This is why we are showcasing Africa’s best female entrepreneurs in Kigali this week,” said Elsie Kanza, Head of Africa at the World Economic Forum.
Here are Africa’s top female innovators, selected based on the criteria for the WEF Africa challenge. This required entrant companies to be less than three years old, be earning revenue for at least a year and have proven innovation and positive social impact.
Natalie Bitature – Musana Carts, Kampala, Uganda
Musana Carts has used frugal innovation to develop environmentally friendly, solar-powered vending carts. With a price point of $400, each Musana Cart saves 3,000 tons of carbon emissions and improves the health of cities by eliminating pollution from charcoal and kerosene stoves.
Audrey Cheng – Moringa School, Nairobi, Kenya
Audrey Cheng established Moringa School to enable an entire generation gain the skills they need to compete in the digital economy. Two years on, graduates work in the top tech companies in the region, earning, on average, 350 percent more than before they completed the course.
Ta-Nehisi Coates (photo via colorlines.com) article by Sameer Rao via colorlines.com
Add “Black Panther” to Ta-Nehisi Coates’ list of best-selling titles.
The culture critic and “The Atlantic” journalist’s first foray into comic books was not only the top-selling comic last month, but according to Vulture, it’s the top-selling comic of 2016 so far.
Less than a year after the success of his memoir, “Between the World and Me,” the first issue of Coates’ reboot of the classic Marvel character’s story tops the list with 253,259 orders from North American retailers. While that number doesn’t account for actual sales (or orders from oustide the continent), Vulture notes that it “is the only industry statistic available and it’s generally a good indicator of interest in a comic.” The closest runner-up, the inaugural issue of Marvel’s “Star Wars: Poe Dameron,” received just 175,322 orders. Source: Ta-Nehisi Coates’ ‘Black Panther’ Is 2016’s Best-Selling Comic So Far
Ta-Nehisi Coates (photo via colorlines.com) article by Sameer Rao via colorlines.com
Add “Black Panther” to Ta-Nehisi Coates’ list of best-selling titles.
The culture critic and “The Atlantic” journalist’s first foray into comic books was not only the top-selling comic last month, but according to Vulture, it’s the top-selling comic of 2016 so far.
Less than a year after the success of his memoir, “Between the World and Me,” the first issue of Coates’ reboot of the classic Marvel character’s story tops the list with 253,259 orders from North American retailers. While that number doesn’t account for actual sales (or orders from oustide the continent), Vulture notes that it “is the only industry statistic available and it’s generally a good indicator of interest in a comic.” The closest runner-up, the inaugural issue of Marvel’s “Star Wars: Poe Dameron,” received just 175,322 orders. Source: Ta-Nehisi Coates’ ‘Black Panther’ Is 2016’s Best-Selling Comic So Far
