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A new Black-owned restaurant has opened in Los Angeles. MTV “Ridiculousness” co-host Sterling “Steelo” Brim, Alahna Jade, and business partners Vincent Bryant and Scott Williams are the masterminds behind Linden. Located on the historic Sunset Boulevard, Linden is on a mission to bring delicious dishes from the Big Apple to Hollywood. “I’ve always had a passion for hosting and creating memorable experiences for others and found a lot of joy in curating vibes and bringing people together,” Jade told Blavity when asked about the inspiration behind the restaurant. “When Sterling and I came together as a couple, we realized that our shared love for hospitality was something we could turn into a fulfilling venture.” Brim’s introduction to the restaurant business started in New York with Las’ Lap, alongside Bryant and Williams, who are part of the team behind Linden. View this post on Instagram A post shared by LINDEN (@lindenlosangeles) “The L.A. crowd was waiting on something like...
Howard University women’s basketball has landed a sweet deal with Black Girl Vitamins. According to a press release, Howard University Bison Women’s Basketball team has cemented a multi-year deal with Black Girl Vitamins as its official sponsor. The vitamin company aims to empower Black women in their health journeys with high-quality products, health expertise, and education resources. Through the partnership, the team’s players and coaches will receive vitamins, and the team will also be provided with direct monetary sponsorship. “Thank you, @blackgirlvitamins !! Thank you for seeing us!! Thank you for seeing all Black Women and making our health a priority,” the team wrote in a caption shared on Instagram. View this post on Instagram A post shared by HU Womens Basketball Team (@howard_wbb) Black Girl Vitamins commented in a separate Instagram post: “Holding this secret in for this long was not easy for us at all, legit wanted to explode. But yes we are THE OFFICIAL, yes THE...
South Carolina State University (SC State) has received funding to support research in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). According to WCIV-4 News, the Historically Black College and University (HBCU) has received $8 million, which will go toward education and research within its College of Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, and Transportation (STEM-T College) and Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) workforce development. “I thank Gov. Henry McMaster and the General Assembly for supporting this visionary milestone in the development of SC State and our partners in this critical endeavor,” SC State President Alexander Conyers said, per WCIV-4 News. Elbert R. Malone, SC State associate provost for research and sponsored programs, added: “These funds will be transformational to the STEM-T College because it will provide an opportunity to build a robust research infrastructure that will allow the university to compete in the research arena on...
Detroit, MI, has done it again, and it’s only right that one of the Blackest cities in America becomes the home to the first all-Black-led sports radio station in the nation! Sports Rap Radio on AM 1270 made its debut on the airwaves in Motor City on June 4, and not only does it feature all Black hosts, but the radio station is also Black-owned, Blavity reports. “[This is] history-making,” said former Detroit sports anchor Rob Parker, per CBS News. “[It’s] groundbreaking, [and] we just believe that the time has come.” In addition to Parker, who is responsible for helping to bring this vision to life, the history-making team of co-owners includes Parker’s longtime friend Dave Kenney as well as athletes, former NBA player BJ Armstrong and University of Michigan wide receiver Maurice “Moe” Ways. “Moe was the missing piece. I needed somebody young, smart, from the city,” Parker told the outlet. The two have kept in touch since they first met, when Ways was a football star at Detroit...
For the second year, actor Michael B. Jordan and flavored bottled water company Propel aim to bridge the gap between resources and access for people striving to regain control of their health. Last year in partnership with Propel, Jordan used his influence and Propel’s funds to equip the WalkGood LA studio — a space for yoga enthusiasts of all levels — with the resources needed to establish its presence in the health and wellness industry. “We were looking for different organizations in LA, wanted to kick it off in Los Angeles, and open up their first physical space, The WalkGood Yard. This space enabled [WalkGood LA] to expand their programs and classes in a central location, providing the facility and location to grow their brand and reach the community at large,” Jordan said in an interview with AFROTECH™. “This year, we’re creating spaces for other organizations. Instead of going to them, we’re opening under one roof, creating a rotating space for up to 16 organizations to come...
Once again Morehouse College is bringing innovation to the classroom. As AFROTECH™ previously reported, the Historically Black College and University (HBCU) made history in 2022 for being the first college to offer classes in the metaverse. Less than two years later, it is now poised to disrupt the education landscape for the better through the launch of reportedly the world’s first fully spacial artificial intelligence (AI) teaching assistants. Muhsinah Morris, a senior assistant professor in education and metaversity director at Morehouse College, developed the technology in spring 2021 with the assistance of faculty such as Ovell Hamilton, Ethell Vereen Jr., and Tanya Clark, she mentioned on LinkedIn. She also benefited from a partnership with VictoryXR and received backing from Southern Company, Qualcomm, Meta, Unity, the National Science Foundation (NSF), and T-Mobile. “I am so proud of Morehouse College Metaversity Faculty and MetaHouse Scholars who keep this work going full...
North Carolina’s Fayetteville State University has landed a whopping donation set to support its students further. WTVD-11 reports that the HBCU received an anonymous donation of $750,000. The donation will aid Fayetteville State University’s free summer school called 30/60/90. The outlet details that the summer school program works to assist students with decreasing their student debt. What’s more, it focuses on students earning their degrees early. According to the summer school program’s website, the scholarship covers two courses or up to seven credit hours for undergraduate students, one course or up to three credit hours for graduate and doctoral students in the College of Education, book rental fees, other fees, and on-campus housing and meals. “The financial aid, they help me,” Deborah Cathcart, a rising sophomore student at Fayetteville State University, said per WTVD-11. She continued, “It helps me so much…this school, they introduce such an easy and just a practical way...
NBA player Jaylen Brown was once labeled “too smart” to join the very league he would go on to earn a historic contract with. Athlon Sports reports Brown graduated Wheeler High School in Marietta, GA, at the top of his class. He accomplished this while excelling on the basketball court. He was a first team All-American and top-five national high school prospect, his NBA bio reads. Between 2015 and 2016, Brown continued his studies at the University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley), while playing for its basketball team. However, he was not satisfied with the freshman courses they offered him, which were not challenging enough, The New York Times reports. He swapped out some of his classes to take on African American Studies, an upper-division class from the Global Poverty and Practice minors program, and a graduate course titled “Theoretical Foundations for the Cultural Studies of Sport and Education,” which he had learned about through Hashim Ali, co-founder of the Oakland...
85-year-old Shirley Smith has fulfilled her academic dreams. Raised on a tobacco farm in Wilmington, NC, Smith eventually had to move to Somerville, NJ, because her father needed to earn more money to support the family of six children after tobacco rates fell, Fox News Digital reports. By this time, Smith had left her academics behind, leading her to fill her time with jobs, including at a dry cleaner and a pocketbook factory. “I was going to the 10th grade, and I told him, the biggest mistake that I made, I think, was telling him that I didn’t want to go to school,” Smith told the outlet. “And he said, ‘Go to work.’” Smith eventually had a family of her own and moved to Georgia. Although she considered vocational school, she never completed her studies as her days were spent caring for her growing family. Still, Smith instilled the importance of education in her home and required her children to finish school if they were to live under her roof. “Matter of fact, they cried to go...
Three Black women graduates have been awarded a top prize. According to a press release provided to AFROTECH™, Central State University (Ohio) graduates Myesha Burnette, Shawntae Thompson, and Baijing Zinnerman, have received accolades for their research in material and process engineering. They grabbed top honors during the Midwest Society for the Advancement of Material and Process Engineering (SAMPE) Student Competition hosted at the University of Dayton Research Institute in Dayton, OH. SAMPE is a nonprofit organization and technical society that targets various areas of materials and processes (M&P), its website mentions. Among its initiatives includes aiding student chapters, providing information and forums, and offering scholarships and awards. “SAMPE provides growth and educational opportunities via conferences, exhibitions, technical forums, and publications. As the only technical society encompassing all fields of endeavor in materials and processes, SAMPE provides a...
Elijah Hogan’s life circumstances did not deter him from graduating high school at the top of his class. Hogan recently graduated from New Orleans, LA’s Walter L. Cohen High School. However, for more than a year while attending school, he lived at the Covenant House, a local homeless shelter, People reports. He learned about the shelter from his grandmother, a retired social worker. “Her lease form for the house that we all used to live in started to expire, and we only had 30 days until we had to move out. So, I took it upon myself to live independently,” Hogan told People . “She gave me some info about Covenant House and told me to continue on with my education. …Without them, I wouldn’t have been able to finish my high school years, giving me a place to stay, a place to eat, a place to sleep. I wouldn’t have been able to be where I’m at now.” In May 2024, Hogan graduated as the class valedictorian with a 3.89 grade point average. “Above all the trials, tests, and hardships, what...
Anthony Claytor is the first I Promise School student to graduate from college. As AFROTECH™ previously reported, the school launched in Akron, OH, through the LeBron James Family Foundation, which was established in 2004 to “positively affect the lives of children and young adults through education and co-curricular educational initiatives.” The I Promise School came into fruition in 2017 through a partnership with Akron Public Schools (APS) and a committee of local leaders, educators, parents, and experts, Andscape reported. The school officially opened in 2018. “This school is so important to me because our vision is to create a place for the kids in Akron who need it most — those that could fall through the cracks if we don’t do something,” James said at the time, according to Andscape. “We’ve learned over the years what works and what motivates them, and now we can bring all of that together in one place, along with the right resources and experts. If we get to them early...
Shaquille O’Neal’s new educational initiative is underway. As AFROTECH™ previously reported, O’Neal learned of the efforts of Tade Oyerinde, who founded and leads accredited online community college startup Campus, while reading a Forbes article about him. The startup had received a $29 million funding raise in 2023 with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Discord Founder Jason Citron leading its Series A funding round. “Shaq saw the Forbes article and had his team reach out, and he was just like, ‘This kid raised all this money from these guys.’ He thought it was unbelievable,” Oyerinde told AFROTECH™ at the time. O’Neal was so impressed that he wanted to get involved in Oyerinde’s mission. He is now an investor in the company and, most recently, is kicking off Campus’s latest initiative. According to a press release, O’Neal and Campus.edu plan to provide 500 high school students and recent graduates with access to business courses taught by college professors from top colleges and...
Stormi Steele has seen firsthand the power of social media. Steele is the founder of Canvas Beauty, a beauty brand she conceived in a night, Forbes mentioned. It all started with a hair serum made with cayenne pepper in her kitchen, which she introduced to her clients at her hair salon. After her clients’ rave reviews, she was encouraged to sell the product. Now, Steele’s Hair Blossom Serum remains the leading product in its marketing sector, the outlet notes. “It just ended up having a life of its own after that,” Steele told Forbes. Steele found great success since the launch of her business in 2018. In its first year, Canvas Beauty sold more than 1 million units, according to information provided to AFROTECH™. In 2019, going viral led the business to earn 30,000 monthly orders compared to 6,000 before the exposure, per Forbes. However, the influx of orders prompted Steele and her husband and business partner, Courtney Beasley, to learn a quick lesson about running an online...
At 14 years old, Keniah Washington has graduated from college. Washington graduated with a liberal arts associate’s degree from Saint Leo University in Florida and a 3.0 GPA, according to USA Today. With the support of her former high school teachers and staff, she enrolled in a dual-enrollment program while attending Icon Preparatory School in Tampa, FL, and took online courses. “I started taking high school courses when I was in sixth grade,” Keniah said. “Once the teachers and staff saw that I was still excelling in my work, they enrolled me and a group of other kids in Saint Leo, and we had a tutor.” Washington admits that reaching her goal was not easy. She had to skip some school events, such as prom and homecoming. “My biggest challenge was being on track and not trying to fall behind,” she said, per USA Today. “I was missing out on prom and homecoming — everything other people experienced in high school. But I told myself that… I’m doing the high school courses now so I can...