SHOPPE BLACK

Kelisha Williams, From Foster Care To Harvard on a Full Scholarship

2 mins read

When Kelisha Williams was younger, she told her teachers she wanted to be the president when she grew up. She is now one step closer to her dream as she prepares to head to Harvard University in the fall.

Kelisha Williams entered the foster care system at 16 years old, and she said it has been a tough few years in the system. She has moved five times in less than two years before ending up with SAFY foster mom Maria Finkenstead.

Williams was working at Walmart and preparing for college when Finkenstead asked her how college admissions were going.

“I said, ‘Hey did you take the ACT?'” Finkenstead said. “She said, ‘Yeah,’ and I said, ‘Well, what did you get?’ And she’s like, a 32, and I was like, ‘You can go anywhere!'”

“When I applied to Harvard, I applied to Harvard as a joke,” Williams said. “I didn’t think I was going to get in.”

What started as a joke became more real as the days went on. As part of Harvard’s admissions interview, Williams spoke with Michelle Obama and Lin Manuel Miranda. During the interviews, Williams asked Obama how she kept going with so many people working against her.

Now, Williams is preparing to study political science and psychology on a full-ride scholarship to Harvard.

“She’s done all the work. All the determination has come from her,” Finkenstead said. “I take no credit in any of her accomplishments.”

“To any of the foster kids that are watching, everyone always says it’s going to get better. I never used to believe that when I was going through it and stuff like that,” Williams said. “Eventually it does.”

 

SOURCE: WCPO

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Gil Scott-Heron Inducted into Rock Hall of Fame

2 mins read
Gil Scott-Heron

The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame has announced its 2021 inductees, and among them is the pioneering singer/songwriter and poet Gil Scott-Heron who made socially and politically potent music in the 1970s that fused jazz with R&B and who—although he preferred to refer to himself as a “bluesologist”—is widely regarded as one of the earliest rappers.

Gil Scott-Heron

Recognizing Scott-Heron’s seminal role in the development of hip-hop, the Rock Hall honored him with an Early Influencer Award.

Scott-Heron is one of only a small number of Rock Hall inductees (so far) to have strong jazz connections. Over the 35 years of its existence, the Hall has also inducted Louis Armstrong, Ray Charles, Charlie Christian, Nat “King” Cole, Miles Davis, Billie Holiday, Dr. John, Quincy Jones, Nina Simone, and Dinah Washington. Only Charles, Davis, Dr. John, and Simone were inducted as performers; the others received either the same Early Influencer honor as Scott-Heron or (in Jones’ case) the Ahmet Ertegun Award for music-industry professionals.

In collaboration with keyboardist/songwriter Brian Jackson, Scott-Heron wrote and recorded 10 albums between 1971 and 1980 that featured a string of hugely influential songs, including “Pieces of a Man,” “Lady Day and John Coltrane,” “Home Is Where the Hatred Is,” “The Bottle,” “Johannesburg,” “Angel Dust,” “We Almost Lost Detroit,” and—the track he remains best known for—”The Revolution Will Not Be Televised.”

Gil Scott-Heron

Scott-Heron remained active until his death, and in 2010 released his first new album in 16 years, entitled I’m New Here. A memoir he had been working on for years up to the time of his death, The Last Holiday, was published posthumously in January 2012. Scott-Heron received a posthumous Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2012. He also is included in the exhibits at the National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) that officially opened on September 24, 2016, on the National Mall, and in an NMAAHC publication, Dream a World Anew.

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Upsie Raises $18.2 Million To Offer Lower Priced Consumer Warranties

1 min read

Upsie is a more affordable warranty option for your electronic devices, appliances, and fitness equipment. They offer the same warranties and coverage as other companies and cost up to 70% less.

“I’m sure you’ve walked into a Best Buy or a Target, and when you’re checking out somebody at the register is offering you a warranty. But what most customers don’t know is that you’re paying as much as 900% more for that warranty than you should,” Upsie founder Clarence Bethea told TechCrunch.

upsie
Upsie founder, Clarence Bethea

“There’s no transparency at the register and you never get to ask what’s covered and what’s not covered, or what should you do if you need to make a claim.”

Upsie just finalized an $18.2 million Series A round that Bethea hopes will encourage other Black founders.

“Getting more dollars to Black and Brown founders is always top of mind in conversations—there’s still such a deficit,” Bethea said. “Today represents that it’s possible.”

True Ventures, a Silicon Valley-based firm, was the lead investor in the round. Other Twin Cities-based firms such as Matchstick Ventures and Bread & Butter Ventures also participated.

Tony O. Lawson

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The Newest Chess Master in the Country is a 10 Year Old Black Boy Who Was Once Homeless

2 mins read

Tani Adewumi discovered his affinity for chess while living in a homeless shelter in Manhattan. Three years later, at 10 years of age, he now the country’s newest national chess master.

At the Fairfield County Chess Club Championship tournament in Connecticut on May 1, Tani won all four of his matches, bumping his chess rating up to 2223 and making him the 28th youngest person to become a chess master, according to US Chess.

“I was very happy that I won and that I got the title,” he says, “I really love that I finally got it.”

Now, Adewumi practices chess “every day” after school for “10, 11 hours” — and still manages to get some sleep.

His hours of practice have paid off. As a chess player, he describes himself as a bit of an every man, “aggressive” or “calm” when he needs to be, and always thinking ahead.

“On a normal position, I can do up to 20 moves [in advance]”, he says. Keeping all of the pieces straight in his head might seem like a challenge but Adewumi says it’s a skill that “when you master, it just keeps coming back.”

Adewumi competes against other chess players at all levels. His favorite match was against Hikaru Nakamura. Nakamura won that match. But Adewumi takes each loss in stride — and there’s always the possibility of a comeback.

“I say to myself that I never lose, that I only learn,” he says. “Because when you lose, you have to make a mistake to lose that game. So you learn from that mistake, and so you learn [overall]. So losing is the way of winning for yourself.”

Tani and his family have since moved out of the shelter and he’s written a book about his life called My Name Is Tani . . . and I Believe in Miracles. Three film companies have competed for the rights to his story and the book has been optioned for a Trevor Noah-produced film adaptation with a script by The Pursuit of Happyness screenwriter Steven Conrad.

Tony O. Lawson

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Black Journalist Creates App To Help Viewers Connect and Review Favorite TV shows and Films.

1 min read

PopViewers is an app that allows fans to connect and critique all of their favorite TV shows and films.

With user-generated content scores and reaction videos, PopViewers is ultimately shifting how we engage with content online and helps content providers when developing new movies and tv shows.

popviewers

They want to democratize the voices of those who watch, consume, and pay for all of this entertainment and empower them to get into the boardroom and pull up a chair at that table.

In this interview, I spoke with founder Chris Witherspoon about how Pop Viewers can be used to empowering Black creatives. We also discussed how PopViewers can help bring more diverse voices and opinions to Hollywood.

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Tony O. Lawson

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She Owns The First Black Owned Bookstore Focused On Afro Futurism and Science Fiction

1 min read

Isis Asare is the founder of Sistah SciFi, the first Black owned bookstore solely focused on science fiction and fantasy.

In this interview, we discuss her choice to focus on science fiction. We also discuss Afro-futurism, how it shows up in our daily lives and how Black people can create opportunities using technology.

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Tony O. Lawson

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12 Yr Old Genius Attending College, Plans To Become a NASA Engineer

4 mins read
NASA

Alena Wicker is only 12 years old and is set to attend Arizona State University this month. Attending college before she’s a teenager isn’t her only lofty goal — the young Black mind has dreams to reach the stars and plans to start by double majoring in astronomical and planetary science and chemistry so she can get her foot in the door at NASA.

NASA
Alena Wicker

Though her occupation has jumped from being an astronomer to engineering, her mother, Daphne McQuarter, says that the dream has always been NASA. “She would always say, ‘Mommy, I’m going to work for NASA.’ Then she would start saying, ‘I’m going to be the youngest Black girl to ever work for NASA—watch.”

The jump from astronomer to engineering makes perfect sense when you consider Alena’s main passion: Legos. Alena doesn’t just play with them, she builds with them, and the harder the project, the better.

She’s recently built the Taj Mahal, the Disney castle, the Millenium Falcon, and appropriately, the Apollo 11 rover and a NASA rocket. One build alone took Alena up to 15 hours, running on zero sleep over two days, and it’s only the beginning.  Alena doesn’t want to just build Lego rovers; she wants to build real ones.

It didn’t go unnoticed how little the STEM field catered to Black girls like Alena, though. Women made up half of all US workers in STEM, but only from the medical standpoint. There aren’t many women in the classrooms or the workplaces of the computers and engineering fields, and it’s largely due to lack of support.

Even more shocking, Black people only made up 9% of all STEM workers. Wanting to bridge the gap and create a safe space for people like her, Alena launched her own website: Brown Stem Girl (BSG), which was created for “supporting and educating girls of color around the world about the importance of STEM and how to excel in it.”

Science isn’t Alena’s only talent, though. In true cosmopolitan fashion, Alena is also learning Spanish and Arabic, two languages that will no doubt give her an edge over her peers, and she is currently writing a children’s book titled “Brainiac World.”

Alena’s next big undertaking: a podcast. Alongside her website, Alena’s working on a podcast to be released sometime this month. “My podcast is to encourage girls in STEM by bringing other women and girls of STEM to ask and answer questions,” Alena says when asked about her plans for the show. One of the first people she’d like to have on the podcast is Dr. Mae Jemison, the first Black female to travel to space, to get her perspective of what it’s like being an astronaut as a Black woman.

NASA
Dr. Mae Jemison

Incoming college student, future NASA engineer, writer, and entrepreneur: It’s clear that big things are on the horizon for Alena. The twelve-year-old and her mother teased that NASA has already contacted her, so maybe Alena will reach the stars sooner than later. But for now, she’s got a new Lego set to build and a future to plan.

 

 

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Meet The Scientist and The Activist Creating a Prison to STEM Pipeline

2 mins read
scientist

Stanley Andrisse is a scientist. Syrita Steib is an activist. They are both breaking down barriers to help formerly incarcerated people pursue education and careers in science, technology, education, and mathematics. They have both founded organizations that provide people with convictions pathways to careers in STEM.

“I was seen as a criminal, less than an animal,” Andrisse recalls the moment he realized that he had been being prepared for prison his entire life. In 2008 in a Missouri courtroom, Stanley Andrisse was a promising college athlete and biology whose future would be altered forever by a 10-year sentence.

scientist
Dr. Stanley Andrisse, Executive Director, From Prison Cell to Ph.D.

After serving his time, Andrisse reconnected with a cancer researcher he’d worked for during a fellowship in school. Through the encouragement and help of his mentor, Andrisse graduated with a Ph.D. in 2014. Now the endocrinologist runs a nonprofit, From Prison Cells to Ph.D., that offers people with convictions opportunities like educational counseling, paid short-term internships, and other resources.

Syrita Steib, founder and executive director of nonprofit Operation Restoration, faced a 10-year sentence and a hefty nearly $2 million in restitution after committing a felony. Nothing could have prepared her for the barriers she faced when she attempted to enroll in college after her sentence.

scientist
Syrita Steib, Executive Director & Founder, Operation Restoration

She was only admitted to Lousiana State University after submitting an application with the felony box unchecked. Steib went on to complete her bachelor’s and founded Operation Restoration in 2016. The nonprofit supports current and formerly incarcerated women and has a one-of-a-kind lab assistant program that offers a direct pathway to a four-year degree.

Many college applicants with convictions aren’t rejected. The truth is, many applications never try. Stanley and Syrita aim to change that narrative.

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Black Data Scientist Creates a Digital Wallet For Lending and Borrowing Cryptocurrency

4 mins read
black data scientist

The World Data Science Institute is an SEC-registered financial data science research and development company. They develop Blockchain and financial technology applications.

So far, the startup has raised over $145,000 to launch its flagship product, CryptoShare. CryptoShare is a digital wallet and peer-to-peer lending app that provides the unbanked and credit challenged with the ability to borrow money.

THE PROBLEM

According to Fico statistics, African Americans have the lowest credit scores and are declined for loans three times as much as white applicants. Nearly 30% of African Americans and Hispanics do not have a bank account at all!

African Americans and Hispanics are also disproportionately forced to use high-interest cash advances and pawnshop loans that can be up to 500%.

This clearly shows that an inexcusable amount of African Americans and Hispanics do not have access to adequate loan products.

THE SOLUTION

CrypstoShare replaces the need for a bank account (think Paypal) and allows peer-to-peer lending to be done within the app, giving users the option to use physical and digital assets as collateral at much lower interest rates.

Physical assets can be placed in a Blockchain Smart Locker similar to the Amazon lockers that are used for deliveries.

The borrower places physical assets in the locker and if they don’t pay, the lender will have access to collateral in the locker or it will be mailed to them.

The digital wallets come with a Digital Debit Card so borrowers can use funds immediately to shop online and if they need cash they can withdraw from ATMs.

The most important part is interest rates will range from 10 – 20%. Essentially eliminating the need for expensive high interest loan options that plague the African American and Hispanic communities.

THE FOUNDER: Anade Davis

Anade Davis

What inspired you to start CryptoShare?

I have struggled with either credit and access to funding to grow businesses my entire life. Sometimes I struggled to have access to both at the same time!

As I grew older and traveled to different countries; I realized how many people were dealing with the same struggles internationally.

The problem is the current global banking and credit system excludes billions of people. One thousand US dollars ($1,000) is enough in many countries to jumpstart a business.

These are the reasons that inspired me to create a lending solution for people around the world utilizing Cryptocurrency and ATMs.

What advantages does CryptoShare offer borrowers and lenders?

  • It’s convenient. The only document borrowers will need to provide is their ID.
  • It’s flexible. Ability to customize the loan terms to suit lenders’ needs. Both borrower and lender can customize their loan terms according to their requirements.
  • It’s accessible to everyone because there is no need for a bank account, credit score, or income statement.

How can people support you right now?

You can support us by investing as little as $100 before the investor close date of October 1!

 

Tony O. Lawson

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$25 Million Black Women Owned Fund Receives Multi-Million Dollar Investment from Mastercard

1 min read
Black Women Owned

Fearless Fund is a Black women owned firm that invests in women of color-led businesses seeking pre-seed, seed level, or series A financing. Its mission is to bridge the gap in venture capital funding for women of color founders building scalable, growth aggressive companies.

To help further access to funding for Black women, Mastercard today announced a multi-million dollar investment in the $25 million fund.

The investment will allow Fearless Fund to further expand its portfolio of women of color founded and co-founded companies in the consumer packaged goods, food & beverage, beauty, fashion, and technology sectors.

“This multi-million dollar investment from Mastercard is further proof of their commitment to providing resources in an effort to better serve the hard-working but severely underfunded Women of Color entrepreneurs who so deserve equal capital distribution. We have been working together with Mastercard for almost 3 years now and look forward to growing this relationship,” says Arian Simone, Co-Founder & General Partner of Fearless Fund.

Other investors in Fearless Fund include PayPal, Bank of America, Invest Atlanta, and the Florida A&M University Foundation.

Tony O. Lawson

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